July bombings memorial to be towering tribute to victims

Each stele will be grouped together in interlinking clusters, representing the four separate attacks on the same day in July 2005. Every three-metre column will be inscribed with the date, time and location of the incident that the cluster symbolises.

The permanent £1 million stainless steel memorial will be set up in Hyde Park, close to Park Lane.

A plaque detailing the names of the 52 will be placed in the grass banks at the far eastern end of the memorial.

Antony Gormley, creator of the Angel Of The North, has acted as an independent adviser for the memorial, which will be unveiled next year - on 7 July.

The casting process means that, despite being formed from the same mould, each 15cm-to-18cm square column will be unique. Visitors will be able to wander among the columns.

Grahame Russell, who lost his son Philip at Tavistock Square, said: "A lot of families' ideas were included in the design. The stelae remind me that prior to 7 July these 52 people that died stood tall in this world, the material itself is as indestructible as the memories we have of them.

"We wanted a proper memorial so we have taken our time."

Julie Nicholson, who left her post as a vicar in Bristol because she felt unable to forgive her daughter Jennifer's killer, said: "I felt right at the outset that it would be very difficult adequately to find a memorial that would express everything that needs to be expressed about those that died and the manner in which they died."

But she said she was reassured when the designers told her their intention "was to find a silent thing that can eloquently say the unsayable".

The memorial "not only honours and represents the 52 that were killed. In its completeness and use of materials, the design itself is something that is world class. It's a great piece of art as well as a memorial," she said.

Ms Nicholson, whose daughter died at Edgware Road, said: "All the dreams and aspirations that the 52 families have had have all been embraced somewhere [in the design].

"I was interested in what, beyond our own lives, this memorial will be to the world. I think it will still have a narrative."

Saba Mozakka, who lost her mother Behnaz at King's Cross, said at today's design unveiling: "The choice of location was very important to us. 7 July was not just a personal loss but affected the city as a whole. We're very proud that it's in Hyde Park."

Talking about the design process, she said: "It was not a faceless crime and we spent some time looking at personal tributes." The memorial was a personal act that was "also about giving something back to the city", she said. Mr Gormley said: "Using the language of architecture to make order out of chaos, this monument is an opportunity for loss victims to be in contact with the living through a process of discovery, where the memorial's structure becomes complete through the presence and body language-of the curious visitor." The design team were Ove Arup & Partners, architects Carmody Groarke and landscape architects Colvin & Moggridge.

A planning application for the design was submitted to Westminster City Council today and the public will be able to view the plans on the council's website next week.

Evening Standard comment

The design, by the architects Carmody Groarke, for the London memorial in Hyde Park to commemorate the July bombings was unveiled yesterday - and it is a triumph. It consists of 52 steel columns, each 10ft tall, each subtly different from the others. Visitors will be encouraged to move among the columns, grouped in four clusters, to represent the four bombs that took the victims' lives. The effect is both plain and remarkably moving. It is, as Rowan Moore points out here, extraodinarily difficult to design effective memorials - this one is a fitting tribute to the dead.