Memorial site Lelystad

The Municipality of Lelystad has been working with the Remembrance, Reconciliation and Freedom Lelystad Foundation since 2017 on the development of a new memorial site. Because the City Park – where Remembrance Day is commemorated – can no longer handle the growing flow of visitors during the commemoration and is inaccessible to people with disabilities, a new memorial site is being developed. The memorial site will also have a broader function than just commemorating May 4. The aim is to remember and honor, but also to connect Lelystad society in all its diversity.

The new Memorial in Lelystad invites all kinds of different communities to commemorate and will therefore consist of different layers of history. Stories of both pain and hope will be shared. The Memorial consists of a landscape of stones in the water of the Zilverpark. The landscape is based on the subdivision patterns of the Flevoland polder landscape. The material stone emerged from many conversations with different communities. Stones have traditionally been used in all cultures and continents to transmit stories to future generations.

The memorial also forms a new piece of public space in the city, where residents can meet each other. The shapes invite different forms of use, from passive (contemplation, sitting alone) to active (play and activities). All group eight students from Lelystad will also be invited to share a text about their thoughts on commemoration. These are placed on smaller stones along the entire quay. The memorial is a place where differences can be looked beyond, where different generations are given a face, a place that remains relevant in the future, and a place that plays a role in the daily life of the city’s communities.

Developing a new memorial site requires a careful process. Studio L A interviewed the representatives of the Jewish community, the Church community, the Mosque community, the Roma and Sinti community, the Veterans community, the Slavery Remembrance Committee, the LGBTQIA+ community and the physically challenged community. All conversations were about how these groups commemorate and what needs they have in a new place. But also about other things. This is how the conversations went with the religious communities a lot about symbolism and its interpretation. For the physically challenged community, it was about how people with vision impairment or people in wheelchairs can also move around the memorial site in a pleasant and safe way. At the Slavery Remembrance Committee, the Roma and Sinti community and the LGBTQIA+ community, the conversations were more about acceptance and pain. Studio L A was nourished and inspired by these conversations. In consultation with the communities, they also formed a sounding board group of which all communities became part, so that they remain involved throughout the entire design process and can continue to test the design at every stage. We are proud that these communities, including local residents, despite all their differences and within these polarized times, have now become a real group and together carry the memorial.