National Workers' Memorial, Canberra

Competition entry

 

Designed in collaboration with Anna Harris in response to a competition brief this proposal seeks to develop the landscape to create a series of spaces that celebrate and commemorate the workers of Australia. The spaces and objects within the landscape allow for individual contemplation and gatherings of family, friends and larger groups of people. The memorial, would continue to develop over time, is created through seven conceptual interventions:

Un-constructed Landscape
New eucalyptus will be planted at regular intervals along contour lines creating a second pattern in the landscape intersecting with the grid of totems.

The trees represent the un-constructed, harsh and wild landscape of Australia’s heart where so many explorers and farmers work alone.

Totems
The totems are set out on a grid across the landscape. The grid is set at 1800mm, the average height of a adult. Each pole commemorates a person or an event.
Additional totems will be added to the grid over time.

Contemplation Space
An empty space for sitting quietly. Nearby the last coat hanging on the peg reminds us of the person who didn’t go home at the end of the day, the person who today cannot collect their coat.

The coat is cast in bronze and hang’s on a totem. Other totems have empty pegs attached.
The space is formed by a hollow in the landscape, a clearing in the commemorative poles, shaded by the dappled light of the trees.

Gathering Space
Working together people have made Australia a stronger country. This is a gathering space where the workers of Australia can come together celebrating that together we achieve far more than as individuals.

Pathway
Connecting the constructed landscape of Australia’s edge with the un-constructed landscape of the heart where so much of Australia’s wealth has been found.
At the end of the pathway there is a step onto the plinth forcing us to be aware of our actions and emphasising the importance awareness in the workplace.

Plinth
Plinths are normally reserved for a statue of a hero.
This plinth is left empty so that each worker can occupy the privileged position.

The Landscape
We intervene in the landscape to create a series of spaces celebrate and remember the people who have worked and continue to work to build Australia