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A Monument to the Unknown Journey

Part 2 Project 2014
Tom Stoneham
Emma-Jane Salter
Rachel Maylor
University of Liverpool | UK
This project is a response to the Centenary events of the First World War. For the first time in one hundred years, a generation has emerged which has no connection to WW1. There is no one who can immortalise and portray the importance of it. This project aims to respond with the same relevance architecture had in the aftermath of the war. By architecturally and permanently preserving the memory, the project aims to monumentalise the significance of the site and passage.

From 1915-1919 ten million soldiers passed through Folkestone Harbour Station, men taking their final step on British soil, excited, uncertain and dreading what awaited. Or returning, injured or dying, filled with isolation, fear or pride. The men who fought ultimately experienced different wars, however the passageway that delivered them to the front line, symbolised a united experience and a duality of journeys.

In this project, these contrasting journeys are conceptualised in an interweaving user experience; between a landscape of scale and staggered views, and a museum of sensory spaces and intimate experience. The user follows a prescribed outwards journey, from the start of the site to the end of the harbour arm. A route, which restricts choice, to educate and inform, through three museum buildings. The return journey offers different routes, choices and exploration through the landscape. These journeys attempt to evoke in the user, the emotions of the men crossing through the station.

The project is formed of a palimpsest of historically derived landscape and building. The architecture of the project was influenced by the monumental architecture following WW1, from studying war memorials in France and Belgium. The landscape and interventions attempt to utilise the beauty of the surroundings to focus the user on the emotion of the human experience. Ultimately, the project interweaves old and new matter across the site to create a scheme, which is intrinsically linked with the harbour and passage.


Tutor(s)
Prof Robert Kronenburg

2014
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