Atlantic City Boardwalk Holocaust Memorial, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA (2010)

715 proposals had been submitted from 55 countries. These had been shortlisted to 13 finalists.

Life is a passing shadow, say the Scriptures. The shadow of a tower or a tree; the shadow which prevails for a time? No; even as the shadow of a bird in its flight, it passeth from our sight, and neither bird nor shadow remains. ( The Talmud: Selections, by H. Polano,)

There are no old or new tears. 

A loss is a void. A wound on the body of reality.

The Memorial consists of a massive marble volume and a wooden pier.

The big marble floor lies floating over the sand.

It collects shadows and reflections from clouds, birds, city's nightlights and rain water.

Its notches want to delay the sliding displacement of shadows that are moving away. Shadows wavering as a door ajar of a house either abandoned or longing for a beloved.

The geometry of the cuts infringes the regularity of the fallen wall.

No part of it is higher than the boardwalk level.

The exodus towards the ocean is attained by the wooden pier. Small scale ceremonies can take place there. On its low left side lies an oblique reflective bronze surface.

During the day the extent of the shadows show our intensity and our desire for memory.

The monument does not use any contemporary technology because it doesn't refer nor belong to the present tense.

The competition jury included Daniel Libeskind, Richard Meier, Michael Berenbaum, Clifford Chanin, Wendy Evans Joseph, and James E. Young.
http://www.acbhm.org/
http://www.acbhm.org/id41.html
http://www.acbhm.org/id43.html

Theoklis Kanarelis
Architect U. of Minnesota
Associate Professor U. of Thessaly

Collaborating team
Y.Kokkaly
A.Tegoussis
A. Kanareli

Structural engineer
George Panetsos

Photography
Yiorgis Yerolympos