Common Office
Veil: War Memorial
Our competition proposal for a Korean War memorial is organised around a line. Expressed as a red veil across the valley, it acts as a perceived division between two realms, abstractly recalls the 38th parallel and responds to the site’s linear topography.
A line through the valley
The red screen is both a conceptual device and organising framework. It guides a passage from individual reflection towards collective remembrance, extending from a permeable memorial park to a more defined realm of buildings. Walkways run along its length and connect with vertical circulation within each building, creating a layered sequence of platforms and spaces.
From arrival to remembrance
The experience begins at a linear parking spine. Visitors enter a memorial park scattered with pavilions for information and amenities, moving through the wooded landscape along individual paths of reflection before emerging at the waterside clearing to encounter the veil.
Beyond the veil
Visitors pass beneath the veil into the memorial hall, the project’s central point of crossing. Here, filtered daylight passing through the translucent red screen casts a warm glow across the interior, creating a solemn atmosphere in contrast to the contemplative openness of the park. From the hall, the route continues through exhibition, education and support spaces.
Project Facts
Typology: Urbanism
Year: 2020
Status: Competition
Location: South Korea
Next project
Common Office
Veil: War Memorial
Our competition proposal for a Korean War memorial is organised around a line. Expressed as a red veil across the valley, it acts as a perceived division between two realms, abstractly recalls the 38th parallel and responds to the site’s linear topography.
A line through the valley
The red screen is both a conceptual device and organising framework. It guides a passage from individual reflection towards collective remembrance, extending from a permeable memorial park to a more defined realm of buildings. Walkways run along its length and connect with vertical circulation within each building, creating a layered sequence of platforms and spaces.
From arrival to remembrance
The experience begins at a linear parking spine. Visitors enter a memorial park scattered with pavilions for information and amenities, moving through the wooded landscape along individual paths of reflection before emerging at the waterside clearing to encounter the veil.
Beyond the veil
Visitors pass beneath the veil into the memorial hall, the project’s central point of crossing. Here, filtered daylight passing through the translucent red screen casts a warm glow across the interior, creating a solemn atmosphere in contrast to the contemplative openness of the park. From the hall, the route continues through exhibition, education and support spaces.
Project Facts
Typology: Urbanism
Year: 2020
Status: Competition
Location: South Korea
Next project
