“The masterplan design needs to seek inspiration from all this,” he added. “The memorial must be — simply — a beautiful place, a place to visit with friends, a place to gather, to enjoy, and to reflect on an extraordinary life.”
The public can view the finalists’ designs as part of an online exhibition and can provide feedback until May 19.
Bridging together
To honor Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Heatherwick Studio proposed an entry with a lily-themed bridge at its heart (pictured top). In a video introducing the design, the firm’s founder Thomas Heatherwick said Elizabeth II’s values of “togetherness and unity” led his team to conceptualize a “Bridge of Togetherness” that would serve as a gathering place in the park.
The design features a sculpture of the late monarch protected by a canopy of “sculptural lilies” at the center of a limestone bridge. The proposal also includes a pathway of 70 limestone “lily pads” signifying the Queen’s 70-year reign, as well as plants that held significance for her.
“Like her legacy, it is quietly monumental,” reads the firm’s entry. “A memorial grown from the landscape, open to people throughout the world from every walk of life.”
Another design looking to themes of harmony was proposed by Foster + Partners, which was inspired by British architect John Nash’s 1820s remodeling of St. James’s Park.
The design consists of gardens connected by a network of meandering paths and linked by a “Unity Bridge” symbolizing the Queen as “a powerful force for bringing together people, nations, charities, the Commonwealth, and the Armed Forces,” the firm’s founder, architect Norman Foster, said in a video entry. The pathways will feature Elizabeth II’s words, both as audio installations and inscriptions on the path, including a quote from her 1953 coronation speech: “Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust.”
Proposed sculptures include new figurative statues of the Queen and Prince Philip, as well as a “Wind Sculpture” designed by the British artist Yinka Shonibare, intended to serve as a place of “reflection and shared experience.”