US architecture practice Brooks + Scarpa has won a competition to design the new Florida Holocaust Memorial, which will be built in Tallahassee on the South Plaza of the Florida State Capitol Building.  

Selected by The State of Florida Legislature, the 12’ x 12’ x 16’ (3.6 meters x 3.6 meters x 4.8 meters) interactive sculpture is conceived as na inverted-triangular memorial that touches the ground in two points - one of them will be built on a small bench continuing as a landscape element. 

The memorial is designed to recognize and commemorate the millions of people, including six million Jews, murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and to honor the survivors of the Holocaust. 

The formal name of the memorial is Florida Holocaust Memorial, while it is described as "Passage of the Heart" by Brooks + Scarpa, which will act as a portal where visitors can enter and pass between the limestone-clad walls of the memorial. 

In between the limestone-clad walls, there will be time capsules. "It is intended that each stone placed at the memorial have a triangular cut into the stone reserved for a time capsule," stated the firm. 

The memorial is envisioned as an interactive sculpture that features a bronze clad interior made of 22 panels representing the 22 countries in which Jewish communities were destroyed during the Holocaust.

The memorial is intended that the bronze panels be etched with random numbers symbolizing the registration numbers forcibly tattooed on the Jews when they were brought to the death camps.

"Each tiny set of numbers cut thru the bronze panels would represent the 6 million people murdered in the camps, and the numbers would cover the entire surface of the panels so visitors can see the magnitude of the loss of life," said Brooks + Scarpa in a project description.

"At night the number would be backlit and glow thorough the evening as a symbol of enduring life thru tragedy." 

"Digital images can also be created separately as an educational component linked to the memorial and projected on the panels to heighten the experience and serve as a reminder to all future generations," the firm added.

Some may see the bronze panels as a reference to the gold extracted from Jews by the Nazi state, while they also represent something more hopeful, with the gradual weathering process of the material, which will darken over time like an old penny, suggesting resilience and durability through physical trial.

The architects said: "We want to prompt visitors to think about their moral and ethical responsibilities when they see injustice."

The memorial has also a special space between the walls of the memorial where visitors can place, and leave small mementos reminding others that the memorial is about real people, tragedy, hope and the power of the human spirit.

"Memorials need this context to be understood and to be relevant to society. It gives historical perspective, connecting built form to people and our collective cultures," explained Brooks + Scarpa. 

"Without such context, memorials are simply objects to look at, and not places that bring vitality and meaning to people. People remember experiences and the places connected to those experiences."

Site plan

Plan

Axonometric drawing

Diagram 

Section

Elevation

Based in Los Angeles, California, and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Brooks + Scarpa was founded in 1991 as Pugh + Scarpa, later the firm changed its name in 2010 to reflect the current leadership under Angela Brooks, FAIA and Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA and Jeffrey Huber, FAIA.

Brooks + Scarpa designs different types of projects ranging from single-family homes to multi-family housing, affordable housing, commercial, institutional, educational and governmental buildings.

The firm was awarded the 2022 AIA Gold Medal, in which the awards "honors an individual or pair whose significant body of work has had a lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture." 

The studio is currently working on the New Arts and Culture Center in Hollywood, Florida. Brooks + Scarpa and KMF Architects are also designing a new expansion for Mennello Museum in Florida. 

Project facts

Project’s Formal Name: Florida Holocaust Memorial

Location of Project: State Capitol Building, Tallahassee

Client/Owner: State of Florida

Total Cost: $600,000

Completed: 2022

Architects: Brooks + Scarpa 

Project Team: Brooks + Scarpa

Lawrence Scarpa, FAIA , Jeffrey Huber, AIA – Lead Designers, Angela Brooks, AIA, Arty Vartanyan - Project Architect, - Project Design Team.

All images & drawings © Brooks + Scarpa.

> via Brooks + Scarpa