Memorial to the Victims of Totalitarianism, Brussels, Belgium

Competition entry for the open international competition.

An estimated 120 million people worldwide fell victim to Communism, National Socialism, and Fascism. The memorial draws inspiration from the ancient Kurhan (Kurgan), a burial mound found throughout the Indo-European world. Traditionally understood as a Sacred Hill and a landmark within the landscape, the Kurhan provides the conceptual and formal foundation for the memorial.

Four hundred Columns of Remembrance rise from an abstracted Urban Kurhan. Each column represents approximately 300,000 victims, giving physical form and scale to an otherwise unimaginable number. Passages of Remembrance cut diagonally through the memorial, allowing pedestrians to cross Place Jean Rey while experiencing the monument from within. Inspired by the ceremonial paths leading to ancient burial mounds, the passages converge at a central space framed by four monumental columns.

The south-western column carries an eternal flame, recalling the sacred fires traditionally associated with ancient burial mounds. The three remaining columns become Weeping Columns of Remembrance, from whose summits water flows slowly downward.

Every 23 August at 12:00 noon Brussels time, the eternal-flame column casts its shadow across a stainless-steel inscription embedded in the central walkway. The inscription commemorates Black Ribbon Day, the European Day of Remembrance for the victims of Stalinism and Nazism.