MH17 H17 Flight memorial

Function:
Memorial
Area:
5000m2
Development:
2015
Collaboration:
Arnaud Stavenuiter and Ugur Stucu

 Everywhere monuments seem locked in embrace with the times of their conception. Undisturbed by the movements of grief they repel deeply personal relationships between themselves and the individual. We see dying flowers, a candle blown out by the wind, a warm touch forgotten by the stone. The monument stands as a paralysed memory of a dismayed state.

Although these monuments are beautiful, they won’t accommodate maturing understanding of the commemorated event. Our relationship with the MH17 drama cannot be permanently set in stone. Surviving relatives will be joined by a public too young to have witnessed the drama. The need for a consoling image will be accompanied by the need for a lasting image reminding us of the loss we experienced.

The dynamism of this loss must never dissolve within the poetic creation of a single individual. We propose a monument that grieves with us: a block of calcite set in tranquillity, removed from the hum of the city. The block is confusing and random, such as the disaster itself. People draw near to engrave on it their expressions of grief. A niche for a candle, a piece cut off for home commemoration.

This representation of grief will collapse as people etch their feelings onto it. Through these acts of mourning, we will find that time itself will crush our sadness. Processed grief lies as rubble on the floor. To one this is consoling, to another a representation of disaster scattered hopelessly on the floor. And so it will remain.


Monuments are loaded with many complex roles in the lives of people. It should help people in the process of their grief; help them come to terms with irrationality of their loss; it should physically represent the disaster, the nostalgia of the victims and the hope for a better future all in one. It should be responsive to dialogue, since our understanding of the commemorated event changes with time. And it should be receptive to interaction, to visitors that wish to coalesce themselves with the physical object by leaving flowers or otherwise. Monuments we analysed excel only at one or a selection of such roles. Mostly the act of interaction is undervalued, often present in an unimaginative or cliché form.

In our design for the MH17 memorial we feel that it is exactly this quality of interaction that needs to be the unchallenged overtone which strings together all of the other roles in order to become the most appropriate way of remembering for both this disaster and our time. Since the noise of the horrid news of the disaster has barely been allowed to soothe, the dust of the recovery mission hardly allowed to settle. It is not too early to remember, but too early to know exactly how we want to remember it.

We propose Alter Memoir, a monument that changes along with our memories. It is a set of dark calcite blocks placed in tranquillity, removed from the rattle of the city. Around the blocks there is a copper ring, which has inscribed on it the names of all we lost, giving the relatives a special place to go. People draw near the blocks to engrave on it their expressions of mourning with chisels hanging from the wall, or in fact any tool at all. A niche for a candle is carved, a consoling message by an unknown visitor is scribbled, a piece is cut off for commemoration at home. Acoustic panelling, integrated in the walls of the monument’s receptacle, muffles the noise this creates.

This representation of grief will change and deflate day by day. Through these acts of mourning, one day we will find that time itself has crushed our sadness. Processed grief lies as rubble on the floor. This way, the monument remains objective as well as thoroughly engaged with the subjective emotions of the people that are left behind.

The monument is contained in a large, seemingly floating volume set in light-coloured concrete. It is put in the middle of the site and surrounded by many patches of wetlands, home to many types of vegetation and wildlife. The choice for this type of biotope comes from the qualities of the island itself: it is powerfully in dialogue with the water and offers an entirely new experience of nature for the citizens of Amsterdam. It will make a unique and impressive addition to the chain of parks already present in Amsterdam and contribute to the tranquil atmosphere of the monument to the victims of MH17.

There is place for memorial services, either inside the island or outdoors on the deck. People can gather here and remember their friends and family who have passed away. Another day visitors can enjoy a drink in the café after a visit to an exhibition in the multi-use space, both sunken into the belly of the island. Large windows offer vistas over the moor.

This island-monument offers a way of commemorating that is based on dialogue. Although it becomes smaller in size its importance will grow along with our understanding of the MH17 disaster – with this process poetically captured in the blocks of calcite literally carrying our very memories.
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