This article considers the relationship between Britain’s 21st century religious-secular landscape
and the current plans to build a national Holocaust memorial next to the Houses of Parliament
in London. I argue that the project should be understood as the construction of a new sacred
site. Architectural elements in the design ...
This article considers the relationship between Britain’s 21st century religious-secular landscape
and the current plans to build a national Holocaust memorial next to the Houses of Parliament
in London. I argue that the project should be understood as the construction of a new sacred
site. Architectural elements in the design competition entries and the project’s underlying
ideological framing variously intersect with Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as narratives
of British identity and history. I propose that, despite the extreme and harrowing nature of the
events being memorialized, the project should be scrutinized for the interplay of religioussecular
elements and contemporary nationalism. Additionally, I conclude that the outcomes
of the memorial’s interface with manifestations of sacrality may be more unpredictable than
its organizers anticipate.
