Big name architects in running for UK Holocaust memorial

Foster + Partners, Studio Libeskind, Zaha Hadid, Adjaye Associates and Caruso St John are among ten practices on the shortlist for a new national holocaust memorial to be built next to Parliament.

The practices, which are joined by Allied Works, John McAslan, Lahdelma & Mahlamäki Architects, Heneghan Peng Architects and Canadian practice Diamon Schmitt Architects, have teamed up with a variety of top name designers and artists. For instance, Zaha Hadid Architects has partnered with Orbit tower designer and artist Anish Kapoor.

Submissions will be judged by a jury including Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and communities secretary Sajid Javid. Competition organiser Malcolm Reading will advise the jury.

The international design contest was announced by prime minister Theresa May in September and attracted almost 100 entries from 26 countries.

The ten shortlisted teams are now invited to submit full designs for the memorial in Victoria Tower Gardens, including a possible below ground Learning Centre, which will be taken forward subject to technical, financial, planning and other constraints.

Communities secretary Sajid Javid said: “I am delighted that such an impressive line-up of the world’s best architects, artists and designers are getting involved and helping create our new National Memorial to the Holocaust.

“It will stand as a permanent reminder of where prejudice and hatred can lead and it will show our commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism, in all its forms.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “My first public engagement as Mayor was at the Yom HaShoah commemorations in London where I had the incredible honour of meeting and hearing from Jewish survivors and refugees who went through unimaginable horrors in the Holocaust. This experience reminds me once again why we must never forget these atrocities. I’m proud to support plans to create a National Memorial of the Holocaust in the heart of London.

“I look forward to joining the jury to choose a landmark to pay a fitting tribute to the six million Jewish lives lost in what was one of the darkest hours for humanity.”