Description: Design Ideas Competition entry
The proposal considers the centrality of the Gallipoli tradition to the idea of Australian Nationhood - that of a Nation forged through war. By placing a ceremonial 'beach' on the land axis we begin to acknowledge this important cultural meaning in a strong and significant way.
The Gallipoli landing was seen as the affirmation of our new nationhood. This arrival to fight on a foreign shore is symbolised in the memorial as a treacherous reef, jagged and unforgiving, the symbolic beach of conflict upon which many were lost in foreign lands.
The World War II memorial draws upon the language of concrete battlements, devices of scale and art as its communicators. By using the 8.4 metre high art blades the memorial becomes one of a journey up, through and around these blades.
There is accessible circulation within a sculptural ramped space, interspersed with Art Blades. The ramp links the terrace with the mid level of the amphitheatre and the beach below.