Coping, catharsis, the collective consciousness of the city. What defines adequacy when it comes to the justice of remembrance? Many times the destruction is cleared away and with it, the erasure of its trauma and the most impactful, humbling reminders. A pristine artifice symbolizing the prior chaos takes its place. While beneficial to sometimes erase the scars of trauma for reconciliation and healing, perhaps in Beirut the trauma must be reinforced; the violence wrought upon the populace kept as tactile evidence and a reminder for governmental vigilance and accountability.
The memorial is proposed not merely for the rebuilding of the city’s fabric, but an attempt to reexamine trust and transparency between the government and the people. In keeping, and even more drastically – occupying the void as a new parliamentary space, the solemn duty of representational assembly is transferred from the halls of the historic Beirut Parliament Building into the depths of the devastation. Embedding itself into the crater and concretizing the outlines, the memorial takes on a new role as a civic site, allowing people to not just gather, grieve and remember, but hold accountable the decisions and discussion that will henceforth be held within.