John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group

With Lily Jencks Studio, Local Projects and Arup

John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group concept render: a sunken courtyard at dusk with candle-lit inscribed walls and visitors gathered around a circular hearth
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group concept render: daytime view of a wedge-shaped grass-covered memorial mound in front of the Palace of Westminster
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group concept render: a below-ground space with a mound of pale broken stone fragments framed by concrete walls, visitors including children looking on
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group concept render: a wintry view of Victoria Tower Gardens with the Buxton Memorial and the grass-covered memorial mound in the distance
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group concept render: an underground exhibition hall with a spiral stone amphitheatre and walls displaying victims' names, photographs and biographies
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group concept detail: small inscribed stone fragments bearing victims' names and dates
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group presentation board 1
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group presentation board 2
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group presentation board 3
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group presentation board 5
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group presentation board 6
John McAslan + Partners and MASS Design Group presentation board 4

In Jewish tradition, the laying of a stone at a grave marks a visit by relatives, remembering the deceased. This simple act binds generations together. The word for ‘stone’ in Hebrew - ןבא or eben – is a construct of  א or Aleph, (Heavenly Father) and  ב  or Bet, (son) and so the word for stone symbolises this continuity between generations.

The legacy of the Holocaust – or Shoah – is not just the elimination of nearly 6 million Jews; but the grievous loss of generations that never came to be – millions of stones yet to be placed. Thus the ritual of placing the stone signifies a way of establishing legacy over generations. The act of taking a stone symbolizes our individual and collective commitment to remembrance.

This is our Memorial proposal. 6 million stones placed at and then taken from the centre of London. Eben.

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