tsunami memorial 


international competition, honorary mention*
Khao Lak, Thailand


The tsunami memorial proposed in our project is as much a path as it is a building. A path to remember and to contemplate.

The path links the oldest existing trees in the site through a series of 6° ramps that allow for a continuous journey that will become the memorial itself. In the shadow of the trees, a series of terraces allow for the people to let the visitors intimitally remember their loved ones. Victims are welcome to leave the remains or possessions in the terraces.

The building as a spiraling ring is in itself a concentric path around an intimate garden in the centre, with a still water circular pond. The building is a continuous space divided into the learning centre activities and the museum, passing through the restaurant and ending in the roof as an amphitheater, reclining on the hill to the south of the beach.

The building is placed between 10 and 15 meters, allowing people to physically understand the magnitude of the tsunami waves. The building as a ring is as much a materialization of the tsunami phenomena as a symbol of human solidarity.

The main idea for the museum and memorial for the victims of the tsunami in Khao Lak, Thailand is that of a building formed by a concentric spiral that not only materializes the tsunami phenomena in its physical form but tries to represent the human solidarity in the days following the disaster, through the universal symbolism of the ring.

The building is in itself a continuation of the landscape, because the project is formed by a series of concentric paths that link different terraces, situated around the biggest or oldest trees on the site.

In this sense, the building and landscape architecture are interweaved through the idea of concentric rings and allow the visitor to reach all the spaces in the park designed for the project. This idea was one of which the jury appreciated the most to award an Honorary Mention, as stated in the report from David Elliot´s report, president of the jury and director of the Mori Museum in Tokyo, Japan.

1st stage competition results
Honorary Mention alongside Yasuyuki Senda, Nao Iwanari, Arnaud Brunet, Kirsi Gullichsen, Naoko Tone, Pim Sudhikam, Actar Architecture, Pedro Flores Alves dos Santos and Andrea Bojti.
And 2nd stage participants: Anu Puustinen, Raveevarn Choksombatchai, Ana Somoza, Hou Liang and Richard Weller.

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................



memorial del tsunami


mención honorífica*
Khao Lak, Tailandia


La Idea principal del museo-memorial para las víctimas del tsunami en Khao Lak, Tailandia, es la de un edificio conformado por una espiral concéntrica, que al mismo tiempo materializa el fenómeno del tsunami en su forma física, procura representar la solidaridad humana en los días siguientes al desastre natural, por medio del simbolismo universal del anillo. El edificio es en sí mismo únicamente una continuación del paisaje, ya que el proyecto se conforma por una serie de caminos que ligan una serie de terrazas en el terreno alrededor de los árboles de mayores dimensiones.

En este sentido, el edificio y la arquitectura de paisaje se encuentran estrechamente ligadas a través de la idea de anillos concéntricos y permiten al usuario llegar a todos los espacios del parque designado para el proyecto. Esta idea fue una de las que más valoró el jurado para otorgar una Mención Honorífica, según el reporte de David Elliott, presidente del jurado y director del Museo Mori en Tokyo, Japón.

resultados de la primera fase del concurso
Mención Honorífica junto a Yasuyuki Senda, Nao Iwanari, Arnaud Brunet, Kirsi Gullichsen, Naoko Tone, Pim Sudhikam, Actar Architecture, Pedro Flores Alves dos Santos and Andrea Bojti.
Y los finalistas en la segunda etapa: Anu Puustinen, Raveevarn Choksombatchai, Ana Somoza, Hou Liang and Richard Weller.



..........................................................................................................................................................................................................

*tsunami memorial, mención honorífica / honorary mention*
Khao Lak, Phukhet Tailandia / Thailand

concurso internacional en dos etapas / two stage international competition
cliente / client: Gobierno Real de Tailandia / Royal Thai Government
área / area: 11.5 hect
co-autores / co-authors: Rosalea Monacella, Nabeel Essa
colaboradores / collaborators : Juana Ines Guzmán, Hugo L. Flores, (model)
jurado / jury: David Stuart Elliot, Stefano Boeri, Jonas Bohlin, Jens Ludloff, Chanvudhi Varavarn, Decka Boonkham
proyecto / design 2005