The submission by Kengo Kuma & Associates in collaboration with K2LD Architects has been selected as the winner of the international architectural design competition for the Founders’ Memorial. The competition, launched in January 2019, attracted a strong response of 193 submissions from local and foreign firms.
The design concept originates from the idea of a path, a journey tracing the legacy of Singapore’s founding leaders to honor the past and to inspire the present and future. The design aims to be a living memorial, owned by each new generation of Singaporeans, with spaces for the celebration of milestone events and slopes that can be ascended, with a vision to the future the changing skyline of Singapore.
More than a singular building, we envision a garden: a place for all to gather close to nature. The Founders’ Path, as a central spine, defines the new topography with memorial slopes emerging from the landscape. Multiple paths and canopies extend into the garden, creating a seamless journey that invites visitors to reflect, learn and share while contemplating amidst the lush surroundings.
Grafton Architects was established in 1978. Directors Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara are both graduates of UCD, are Fellows of the RIAI, are International Honorary Fellows of the RIBA and are elected members of Aosdána, the eminent Irish Art organisation. Teachers at the School of Architecture at University College Dublin from 1976 to 2002 and appointed adjunct Professors in 2015. They have held the Kenzo Tange chair at GSD Harvard and the Louis Kahn chair at Yale University and have been visiting professors at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland; Accademia d’Archittettura, Mendrisio, Switzerland, where they were appointed as full professors in 2013. They have been external examiners at numerous universities including Cambridge University and The London Metropolitan School of Architecture. As well as public lectures in Dublin and abroad, including the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin and the Royal Academy in London, they have lectured widely in European and American Schools of Architecture.
