U.S. Memorial, Pekeahu National Park, Wellington

U.S. Memorial, Pekeahu National Park, Wellington

Wellington, New Zealand

The United States Memorial is embedded in the larger context of the Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington, New Zealand, along with a group of allies. To this end, we have drawn upon characteristics of memorials that allow reflection within a greater context. It was designed as a place to be found, happened upon, as visitors meander from garden to garden. The monument is not an object to be contemplated, or a vertical surface to engage with, but rather, a dislocated ground laden with meaning. Entry pathways give way to a spiraling slope that will guide the visitor around a gentle mound. At its far end, the soil thus framed holds a passage meant to help the visitor focus on remembrance. The landscape surrounding the Memorial creates a peaceful, quiet, and serene precinct that will invite quiet thought and reflection. 

The tablet, buried on the ground, is designed as the compilation of words. As the visitor walks around, the words dapple the surface shaping their own landscape. It is not until the visitor arrives at the farthest end of the path, that the poem can be understood as the words come into visual alignment. The gentle mound is intended to evoke multiple associations: mound in the forest, displaced landscape, falling of leaves, individual words that acquire meaning when strung together- all open references for the visitor to grapple with.


Location: Pukeahu National War Memorial Park, Wellington, New Zealand

Proprietor: American Battle Monuments Commission
Design Architect: MPdL Studio
Landscape Architect: Landworks Studio
Local Architect: KebbellDaish Architects
Structural Engineer: Spencer Holmes Ltd
Main Contractor: Field & Hall Ltd
Stone Fabricator: Quarra Stone Company