Designing Memory The Architecture of Commemoration in Europe, 1914 to the Present

This innovative study of memorial architecture investigates how design can translate memories of human loss into tangible structures, creating spaces for remembering. Using approaches from history, psychology, anthropology and sociology, Sabina Tanovic explores purposes behind creating contemporary memorials in a given location, their translation into architectural concepts, their materialisation in the face of social and political challenges, and their influence on the transmission of memory. Covering the period from the First World War to the present, she looks at memorials such as the Holocaust museums in Mechelen and Drancy, as well as memorials for the victims of terrorist attacks, to unravel the private and public role of memorial architecture and the possibilities of architecture as a form of agency in remembering and dealing with a difficult past. The result is a distinctive contribution to the literature on history and memory, and on architecture as a link to the past.

Introduction; Part I. Scaffolding Memory: 1. Commemorative architecture since 1914; 2. The dual role of memorial architecture; Part II. Case Studies: 3. Memorials to the victims of terrorism; 4. Memorial museums; 5. War memorials; Conclusion.

Sabina Tanovic is an architect, and a postdoctoral researcher at Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands. In 2017 she won an international architectural competition to design a Memorial Museum and a Research Center for Sarajevo's 'Tunnel of Hope'.