Memorial Hall of Israel's Fallen soldiers wins international prize

The memorial site, designed by Kimmel Eshkolot Architects, combines light space and names of fallen soldiers to offer visitors a unique way to commemorate their friends and loved ones.

SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 09:12

Memorial Hall of Israel's Fallen at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery (photo credit: AMIT GERON) — Memorial Hall of Israel's Fallen at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery

(photo credit: AMIT GERON)

The Memorial Hall of Israel's Fallen soldiers, located in Mount Herzl, will be presented with the international Dedalo Minossee prize for Commissioning a Building on Saturday, a press release on behalf of Dedalo Minosse reported.

Designed by Kimmel Eshkolot Architects and commissioned by the Ministry of Defense, the site is inside the mountain, offering an intimate and quiet location for remembering those who had given their lives in the wars of Israel. A formation of bricks, with each brick bearing the name of a soldier who gave the ultimate sacrifice and his or her name and date of death, creating a formation which is funnel-shaped and opens to the heavens.

Memorial Hall of Israel's Fallen at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery/ MIT GERON

Each brick also has a space for a light-candle to be lit every year on that date, called the Wall of Names, there are currently roughly 23,000 names on it.

Visitors who walk the circular path leading to the sky-opening will see these lights during their journey, each day the site changes a little as names of different fallen soldiers are lit, making the site an example of how to represent "living" memory.

The prize will be given at the Teatro Olimpico in the city of Vicenza, Italy. The city will also host an exhibition at the Palladian Basilica from September 26 to October 6 depicting the winning projects. The exhibition will then be shown in other cities around Italy and the world, including Tokyo, Paris, and Dubai.

Memorial sites for those who died in combat often have a social effect which is larger than just architecture or memorial services.

The 1982 Vietnam Veterans Memorial designed by Maya Lin in Washington D.C, a black granite wall bearing the names of over 58,000 US Army soldiers who died during the Vietnam War offered the families and loved ones of the soldiers, as well as US society in general, the ability to come to terms with the war and its aftermath.

People often leave flowers, hand-written notes and lit candles at the site.

Not all monuments focus on those who perished in war, in Germany there are over 20 monuments that honor those who refused to fight and deserted, usually from Hitler's army during the Second World War. The Monument of the Unknown Deserter in Postdam, for example, shows a human shaped space in a rock, indicating that the person left.

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In the French town of Limousin a monument to those who died in the Great War depicts a child reaching out and the words 'Cursed be War.'