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Revealed: First images of poignant 7/7 memorial
Terry Kirby03.07.09
These are the first images of the striking memorial in Hyde Park to the victims of the July 7 bombings.
The £1 million London Bombing Memorial is due to be officially unveiled by the Prince of Wales on Tuesday, the fourth anniversary of the attacks.
It has been designed as a “dignified and tranquil space” by two London-based architects, Kevin Carmody and Andrew Groarke, who have been working in close collaboration with the families of the 52 victims over the past two years.
The architects, whose practice is only four years old, won the commission in an open competition.
Gallery: See more pictures of the memorial here
They have described the process of working with the families as “very intense” and said they were “enablers” of the memorial, as much as designers.
The tribute, in the south-east corner of the park, near Lovers' Walk and Park Lane, consists of 52 roughly textured stainless steel pillars, each 3.5 metres high and representing one of the victims. They are grouped together in four interlinking clusters, of six, seven, 13 and 26, reflecting the number of lives lost in each of the four bombing incidents, at Russell Square, Aldgate and Edgware Road underground stations and at Tavistock Square.
Each column— called a stele, from the Greek word for an inscribed memorial stone — carries a simple inscription recording the date, the location and time of the bombing written in a special font, also called stele.
The names of the dead are inscribed in alphabetical order on a plinth which is set into an embankment nearby.
Groarke was recently quoted as saying that the memorial needed to convey “a very complex” message: "That there are 52 individual lives being remembered and that there is also the sense of radiating collective loss across London and beyond.”
Angel of the North sculptor Anthony Gormley — who the two architects met when working on his King's Cross studio — was also involved in the design.
It was overseen by a committee of families and officials from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the Royal Parks.
Tuesday's ceremony will be attended by many survivors of the bombing, relatives of the victims and representatives of the emergency services and government ministers.
In an initial response to the wishes of the victim's families, the memorial was originally due to be sited in Tavistock Square, where the last of the four bombs exploded. However, two years ago, after further consultation, the location was changed because of the Park's “prominence, history and central location”.
Gallery: See more pictures of the memorial here
Reader views (19)
Oh My God!!! This is a beautiful memorial to a group of people that were murdered. The plaque with their names on is a permenant reminder of them and the columns themselves are so perfectly placed as to show the group standing together. How anyone could say this is in anyway ugly hasnt spent time there! and as for anyway being a memorial for the terrorists is so incredibly wrong. i was at the sevice on the 7th and it was so moving, and is something i will remember always. Im sure all the moaners and whiners will find something else to move on too soon. and there are individual memorials at each site as well if you would like to check.
- Evelyn, Corby UK
I think the main point is being overlooked here amongst all the anger etc... 52 people are no longer here. it was horrible end of. yes it may be an ugly feature but im sure theyd all appreciate the gesture made by some people to show they are still remembered and lives are not completed wasted. maybe take a minute out your day inbetween moaning about what it ' looks' like or political issues and give your thoughts and energy to the one's the 52 left behind.
be grateful that your still here and with your loved ones.
I am only 20 and even I can see no amount of moaning will do any good.
peace be with those who lost their lives and to the ones they left behind.
- Missy, London
What is wrong with some of you people? Yes, the memorial will stand to remind us of the atrocity that took place four years ago in our dear London, but glorify the terrorists? Get real. I am sure the families of the survivors, who have had the awful job of identifying their loved ones who were probably almost unidentifiable, will appreciate somewhere they can go in peace to remember who they lost that day. The most disgusting thing about these attacks, and 9/11 is that the terrorist is deciding where other people should die; the most disgraceful arrogance of all - how dare they - but to say that this graceful memorial glamourises terrorism is almost as disgusting as the terrorist carrying out their totally misguided "act of bravery" (as they would see it). The memorials also stand to remind us of the tremendous courage that took place that day, from survivors to the emergency services and it may also serve to act as a way of Britain getting back some of their backbone; that fantastic backbone that made us so great, but that has been replaced by the lethargic and insular society that we are living in at the moment.
My prayers are with all those who lost their lives that day, and also those who were unflinching in their duty to try to rescue them
- Nora Dempsey, Isle of Wight, England
Actually I'm posting from Bradford.
And my name's not Neil.
- Neil, London, UK
The reason I do not read the comments on TIL very often is because I always find it shocking to see there are so many whiners, whingers and just downright idiots around who have nothing else to do but waste their lives gaining their , in their minds, 1 minute of fame.
"it is ugly" "it glorifies terrorism" "consipiracy theories" - just so many sad people with sad lives pretending to be intelligent. I can just imagine the miserable bedsits in Tooting.
- Dep, London
To suggest that a memorial to the victims of terrorism glorifies the perpetrators is absurd, as absurd as suggesting that memorials to the war dead glorify the 'other' side. This memorial has been designed in association with the families of the deceased and it is important that their loss is remembered. I lost a friend in the 7/7 bombings and I think that the memorial stands not only for him, and the others who lost their lives, but for the values of tolerance and humanity for which he worked throughout his life and London represents. The memorial is for the victims and for all Londoners, and their refusal to let bigoted violence mar the beauty of this city and the cohesion of its proudly multi ethnic people. I think the memorial is beautiful, in its simplicity, though I understand it may not be to everyone's taste, lets not get bogged down in amateur art criticism and wacko conspiracy theories. Lets welcome this fantastic addition to London and remember with humility those who are not here to see it.
- Anna, London
The memorial is an ugly and incosequential litter of steel and signifies nothing except, I guess, in the eyes of the designers.
Do we have to have more of these pointless egotistical exercises?
A simple stone amongst the trees would have been so much more moving.
This just clutters up Hyde Park which seems to be becoming a giant memorial graveyard more than a beautiful centre to London.
- Minnie Ovens, London, UK
Sarah (london): I totally agree with your comment. Am tired of airhead conspiracy theorists; like religious fundamentalists (they have much in common) they are intellectually lazy.
- Alan, London
Neil
Did you not watch the BBC's docu about conspiracy theories this week?
Do you still doubt Al-qaeda exist?
I wish you were right Neil, sadly you are not.
Now stop reading all those daft websites and read facts instead.
- Russell, London
"The official story simply does not stack up." - Neil, London, London UK
Conspiracy Theorists should really get a life.
- Sarah, London
What a pointless bit of tat.waste of money..perhaps they should of gave the money they spent on these metal rods to the victims and there familys...copying the americans again i see
- Rsaviour, london england
7/7 was a false-flag terror operation conducted by the British security services to make us surrender our civil liberties and accept the state as the only source of our security and freedom. We have be comprehensively duped - and most people have fallen for it. The official story simply does not stack up.
- Neil, London, London UK
I agree with many of the comments on this page, that this memorial will be seen as a symbol of terrorism, for terrorists to glorify. These terrorists are nothing but cowards by taking innocents lives. They should be having open political debates, but that is a course they wont take as they know they will lose.
- Kuldip, London, UK
I hope there's plenty in the pot for more memorials in the future.This is not the last time innocent people will get blown apart by radical immigrant extremists living off the taxpayer yet hating our lifestyle.
- Steve, London
I agree that this installation seems more like a permanent reminder of the successful massacre of innocent people.
In New York their memorial to the 9/11 victims will be part of the rebuilt World Trade Centre site and therefore serves as a sign of triumph against adversity.
This installation is not part of an overall symbol of our defiance in the face of terrorism, but rather seems just like a symbol of how the terrorists succeeded.
Memorials should've been placed at the individual sites, in the redeveloped tube stations or in Tavistock Square as was suggested, to show how London has come through the hard times; rather than a pointless exhibit taking pride of place in Hyde Park as a symbol of the terrorists' horrendous achievements.
- Steven, London
I think they are a great idea. The sculpture will be there for a long long time, and is a reminder of how fragile and crazy humankind is.
I think it is a beautiful piece of Art, after all you self rightous people who have left nasty comments above had died they will still be there to remind your children of what happend.
- Amber, London UK
Am I the only one who doesn't want this installation? This is a sort of "victory" for the terrorists, who now have a permanent reminder of their "success" in murdering so many people in one day. A better memorial would be to treat the survivors decently, and make it known that terrorists will never have their way, no matter how many of us they murder.
- Kate, London
I hope they're putting security on it, certain elements of society will make it their business to deface it.
- Bob, Cheam
Being brutally honest I believe that the memorial celebrates the success of the terrorists more than the victims.
The victims were unaware and unable to do anything about their fate and did nothing whilst the killers had many courses which they could follow and chose the cowardly way, innocent and unsuspecting travellers as their victims.
If these muslim terrorists want to make a point and pass to paradise then let them set fire to themselves in an open public space and leave their self-proclamation of martyrdom videos behind for the gullible whilst the sensible engage in open political debate.
- David London, London
