Introduction
In 2017, on the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that killed upwards of 100,000 people, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted. In support of this call for a ban on nuclear weapons, Bee Breeders sought out designs for "The Last Nuclear Bomb Memorial", a conceptual project to be located in any known decommissioned nuclear weapon testing site. This competition was unique in that submissions were not permitted to include text, titles, or annotation of any kind. All ideas were required to be communicated visually.
The competition called for projects that established a clear concept. Given the nature of this competition, the received submissions comprised an immense library of experiential designs. Many focused on light and darkness. Others focused on scale – either by designing directly within the vast craters that remain as evidence of nuclear tests, or by overlaying the space encapsulated by nuclear explosions on dense cities, empty fields, or bodies of water. The designs attempted to memorialize those killed and impacted by the violence of nuclear activity, as well as highlight mankind’s cosmic capacity for destruction on Earth.
Bee Breeders teamed up with a fantastic jury panel with a range of experiences in memorial design. We thank this group for its time and thoughtful analysis of submissions. The full jury included: Jonas Dahlberg, an artist based in Stockholm, Sweden, founding director of the studio and research lab OF PUBLIC INTEREST (OPI) and known for his winning proposal of the memorials for the victims of the terrorist attacks in Oslo and Utøya in 2011; Sebastian Letz, a Partner and creative director at Milla & Partner, Germany, leading the design of Germany's national monument to freedom and unity; Katie MacDonald and Kyle Schumann, co-founders of US-based After Architecture with a portfolio that includes the Camp Barker Civil War memorial; Amsterdam-based architect Angelo Renna; Michel Rojkind, founder of Mexico City-based Rojkind Arquitectos, which recently proposed a memorial to coronavirus victims; and Fernando Romero, Founding Principal of Fernando Romero Enterprise FR-EE, which has worked on projects such as a proposal for an atomic energy pavilion in Russia.
Bee Breeders and its jury panel would like to thank all participants for their submissions!
We sincerely thank our jury panel
for their time and expertise
Katie MacDonald
Co-founder of After Architecture
USA
Kyle Schumann
Co-founder of After Architecture and Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia
USA
Fernando Romero
Architect and Founder, FR-EE
Mexico
Michel Rojkind
Rojkind Arquitectos
Mexico
Angelo Renna
Architect
Italy
Sebastian Letz
Partner at Milla & Partner
Germany
Jonas Dahlberg
Artist and Founder, OF PUBLIC INTEREST (OPI)
Sweden
Enter the next competition edition
Design a memorial that speaks to the cause of ending all nuclear weapons programs
1st Prize Winner +
BB STUDENT AWARD
BB STUDENT AWARD
The Garden
Jury feedback summary
The simple but effective project proposes the insertion of a single circular light trench within a nuclear test crater. It powerfully frames the violence and impact of human testing on earth and nature. At night, the void is shown to glow and highlight the silhouettes of visitors – spectacularly tiny bodies when put in relation to the vastness of the cavity. The jury writes, “The contrast of the nature growing inside the crater left by the bomb seems like a very interesting metaphor of how life can grow out of something as damaging as a nuclear bomb. An emotional and elegant proposal with well-elaborated images. The idea to create a wild garden in the middle of a crater pit is a powerful concept with a positive message for future generations. A place for commemoration for all communities, human and non-human. The emphasis on new emerging nature hints at the possibility of life after catastrophe – a very clear message with a small amount of intervention.”
Enter an open architecture competition now
2nd Prize Winner +
BB GREEN AWARD
BB GREEN AWARD
Measure the horizon from where you stand. Let us know its length and why.
As recently graduated architects, participating in architecture competitions is important because it allows us to keep imagining possibilities and stretching the limits of architecture, without barriers and restrictions; something that can be limited in the professional field once there are budgets and clients involved. We believe it is important for our creative development to continue exploring ideas that challenge us and promote a strong dialogue.
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Mexico
Jury feedback summary
The memorial is proposed at the nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, one of the United States’ most active testing sites in the 1940s and 50s. A simple linear boardwalk stretching over the sea and natural reefs, the memorial occurs largely underwater, placing emphasis on sea life and decentering the human in favor of a holistic view of the environment. According to the jury, “The use of wood and a language of vernacular docks produces a memorial that will be ephemeral on a radioactive timescale, decaying long before other nuclear traces. It is a very interesting concept with beautiful one-line drawings. The idea to create a wooden structure able to support marine life is brilliant. A place to celebrate life in all its forms.”
3rd Prize Winner
Procession
Competitions fine-tune your design skills and help constantly question current interests. Also, they challenge you to solve problems that on any other occasion would be difficult to solve.
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Colombia
Jury feedback summary
A linear tunnel of corten steel cuts through the earth, leading visitors from the flat desert and through the center of a nuclear testing site crater. The project presents an experiential pathway into a wound in the earth caused by human experiment. It plays on the sensations one might feel when led from daylight and openness into a condensed and dark space, into the shaded opening of the void, and back out again. The jury writes, “A clear and concise scenographic concept for an emotionally condensed journey. The concept of accessing the crater left by a bomb through a very narrow space that finally converges into a space that is wide open and full of light, is a very interesting metaphor.
Honorable Mentions
Shortlisted projects
zero point
The Crypt
Towards underwater regeneration
Void
Anthropogenic Fallout: Successional Operations of Land Use Memory for Progressive Regression
Life and death of the last nuclear bomb
Dot
Measure the horizon from where you stand. Let us know its length and why.
Submergence
The Aftermath
True-False about Nuclear Bomb
The Monument Is Alive
DISTANCE
Because it concerns us all.
The Depth
Procession
наблюдать
The Garden
Obscura
The Forgotten
The means devours the end
Katharsis
Memorial 1
BETWEEN DARKNESS AND LIGHT
The Silence of All Mankind
Irreversible
Impact Point
The burden of time
Heritage
Everything goes back to the beginning
Altered Scape
BEFORE AFTER - AFTER BEFORE NUCLEAR MEMORIAL
Peace Garden
715124/3154519
Paper Vigilance
NuclearReef
humility in silence
For the 24 000 forgotten
Nevada Echo
