LIVING MEMORIAL : WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM IN THE CITY

Abstract

This work re-examines our relationship with the war memorials and monuments in our contemporary city. It addresses the apparent lack of congruence between seemingly static passive nature of war monuments and continual active nature of the everyday life, and seeks to break through time-spatial confines conventionally imposed upon our war memorials. The proposed War Memorial Museum is situated at the existing War Memorial Park, in Downtown Core (Commercial and Cultural hub). It would also serve as a portal towards the many other war monuments in Singapore, redefining our general perception of them. Gravity and nature of the subject matter as well as conventional static contents of war museums and memorials often render them somewhat distant and incongruous in a modern vibrant society like Singapore. Often solely associated with the past, they should also be conceived to reflect current concerns and future groundwork for peace. Communication between memorials and its surroundings and visitors, erstwhile one-way, should instead develop into a perpetual dialogue between equals. By departing from their static contents and shifting their focus into the context of living spaces, this dialogue could be manifested as active spaces establishing new co-relations and meanings as they weave into the paths and spaces of the people and disparate activities taking place around the site. The living memorial therefore actively offers itself to its potential participants, 'intruding' into their daily routines to bring to attention larger and more important concerns of the context. The resulting war memorial thus breaks away from its former spatial exclusivity and dissociation with daily living; keeping up with the changing perspectives of people towards its manifold meanings. It becomes much more than a mere closed independent entity on the landscape.