A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
From the Star:
'Poetic' vision for Jewish memorial
Nov. 7, 2006. 07:33 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
Though memorials commemorate the past, they must also address the future.
Few take that responsibility more seriously than the Jewish War Veterans Memorial. Designed by celebrated architect Daniel Libeskind, he of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal addition at the Royal Ontario Museum, this is a work that looks ahead to a world that doesn't yet exist.
When finished a year from now, the piece will tell a story that has never been told. Located on a .8-hectare site in the northwest corner of Earl Bales Park near Bathurst and Sheppard, Libeskind's monument will be a thoroughly 21st-century hybrid; not only consecrated ground but also part sculpture and part architecture, a destination as well as an event space.
"It will be a place of celebration and a place of meditation," explains Libeskind, who first came to international prominence in 2000 with the remarkable and deeply moving Jewish Museum in Berlin.
"It speaks about those who fought and died fighting for freedom. It has to be intimate but also monumental. It has to be appropriate but also accessible."
The $6 million project, which will break ground next spring, consists of a large curvilinear structure — in Libeskind's words, a "shield" — that swoops dramatically to a point more than 15 metres above the ground. Its stainless steel surface is punctuated by nothing except eight slits, each one lit from within.
Most striking of all is an enormous pointed element — a "sword" — that pierces the shield. The tip will be illuminated — by an eternal flame.
Facing the main structure is an amphitheatre with seating for 250 people. The stage in front of them forms the bottom corner of the shield. Encircling the amphitheatre are two walls on which the names of the veterans are etched. Like the main structure and the sword, these walls will be clad in stainless steel.
As Libeskind makes clear, light will play a major role in the memorial. Each name will be backlit so that at night the memorial will take on a different character.
Libeskind hopes the results will be "poetic."
The eight lights on the big piece and the eternal flame are meant, Libeskind says, to evoke the hanukkiah and the shamash, which together form the nine-armed candelabra that symbolizes "the fight for democracy, freedom and justice."
Though construction of the memorial won't start for months, a model made by Sohiel Mosun, a Toronto custom fabricator and design-build firm known for its high quality work, has recently been completed. It lays out the scheme in amazing detail, though as Darius Mosun points out, many elements remain to be worked out.
"Every time I look at the model I'm blown away," says Lou VanDelman, executive director of the memorial foundation. "We still have to complete the fundraising but that won't be a problem. Already it has caught the imagination of Jewish veterans around the world. This is an international memorial; it's not just for Canadian veterans. Though most of the veterans fought in Word War II, it's for veterans of all wars.
"The myth is that Jews didn't fight in World War II," VanDelman adds. "We fought, and in greater numbers proportionally than any other group. In fact, two of every three eligible Jewish men in Canada enlisted during the Second World War. Nobody knows about their stories; these people have a legacy to leave and they haven't left it. There's a long history of Jews in the Canadian military."
So far, veterans from 38 countries will have their names inscribed in the walls. Organizers expect to add more names annually; there's room for more than 20,000. Their stories will be available on a website organized for the memorial.
The site was important, VanDelman says, because it's quiet, acoustically protected and within walking distance of the Holocaust Memorial, just south in Earl Bales Park.
"We wanted a site where there's no activity," he says. "And where it's pitch black at night. The city has bent over backwards to give us the land."
The project has also been an enormous source of pride for the people at Sohiel Mosun; they got involved relatively early in the process and have collaborated closely with Libeskind to ensure that the finished product meets expectations.
Staff has travelled to New York on numerous occasions to discuss issues such as the route of the path that leads to the memorial, the paving and the exact kind of stainless steel; it should gleam but can't be too shiny. In the end, three types of brushed steel were chosen, though that, too, could change.
"It's been a great honour to be involved in this project," Libeskind says happily.
"There's nothing else like it anywhere in the world."
AoD
'Poetic' vision for Jewish memorial
Nov. 7, 2006. 07:33 AM
CHRISTOPHER HUME
Though memorials commemorate the past, they must also address the future.
Few take that responsibility more seriously than the Jewish War Veterans Memorial. Designed by celebrated architect Daniel Libeskind, he of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal addition at the Royal Ontario Museum, this is a work that looks ahead to a world that doesn't yet exist.
When finished a year from now, the piece will tell a story that has never been told. Located on a .8-hectare site in the northwest corner of Earl Bales Park near Bathurst and Sheppard, Libeskind's monument will be a thoroughly 21st-century hybrid; not only consecrated ground but also part sculpture and part architecture, a destination as well as an event space.
"It will be a place of celebration and a place of meditation," explains Libeskind, who first came to international prominence in 2000 with the remarkable and deeply moving Jewish Museum in Berlin.
"It speaks about those who fought and died fighting for freedom. It has to be intimate but also monumental. It has to be appropriate but also accessible."
The $6 million project, which will break ground next spring, consists of a large curvilinear structure — in Libeskind's words, a "shield" — that swoops dramatically to a point more than 15 metres above the ground. Its stainless steel surface is punctuated by nothing except eight slits, each one lit from within.
Most striking of all is an enormous pointed element — a "sword" — that pierces the shield. The tip will be illuminated — by an eternal flame.
Facing the main structure is an amphitheatre with seating for 250 people. The stage in front of them forms the bottom corner of the shield. Encircling the amphitheatre are two walls on which the names of the veterans are etched. Like the main structure and the sword, these walls will be clad in stainless steel.
As Libeskind makes clear, light will play a major role in the memorial. Each name will be backlit so that at night the memorial will take on a different character.
Libeskind hopes the results will be "poetic."
The eight lights on the big piece and the eternal flame are meant, Libeskind says, to evoke the hanukkiah and the shamash, which together form the nine-armed candelabra that symbolizes "the fight for democracy, freedom and justice."
Though construction of the memorial won't start for months, a model made by Sohiel Mosun, a Toronto custom fabricator and design-build firm known for its high quality work, has recently been completed. It lays out the scheme in amazing detail, though as Darius Mosun points out, many elements remain to be worked out.
"Every time I look at the model I'm blown away," says Lou VanDelman, executive director of the memorial foundation. "We still have to complete the fundraising but that won't be a problem. Already it has caught the imagination of Jewish veterans around the world. This is an international memorial; it's not just for Canadian veterans. Though most of the veterans fought in Word War II, it's for veterans of all wars.
"The myth is that Jews didn't fight in World War II," VanDelman adds. "We fought, and in greater numbers proportionally than any other group. In fact, two of every three eligible Jewish men in Canada enlisted during the Second World War. Nobody knows about their stories; these people have a legacy to leave and they haven't left it. There's a long history of Jews in the Canadian military."
So far, veterans from 38 countries will have their names inscribed in the walls. Organizers expect to add more names annually; there's room for more than 20,000. Their stories will be available on a website organized for the memorial.
The site was important, VanDelman says, because it's quiet, acoustically protected and within walking distance of the Holocaust Memorial, just south in Earl Bales Park.
"We wanted a site where there's no activity," he says. "And where it's pitch black at night. The city has bent over backwards to give us the land."
The project has also been an enormous source of pride for the people at Sohiel Mosun; they got involved relatively early in the process and have collaborated closely with Libeskind to ensure that the finished product meets expectations.
Staff has travelled to New York on numerous occasions to discuss issues such as the route of the path that leads to the memorial, the paving and the exact kind of stainless steel; it should gleam but can't be too shiny. In the end, three types of brushed steel were chosen, though that, too, could change.
"It's been a great honour to be involved in this project," Libeskind says happily.
"There's nothing else like it anywhere in the world."
AoD
