CAN MEMORIALS HEAL?
THE AFTERMATH OF THE DUNBLANE TRAGEDY
“Dunblane, 5 miles north of Stirling, will for many years to come be associated with the horrific massacre that took place in the Primary School in 1996.”
Lonely Planet Guide to Britain, 1999
On 13 March 1996, a lone gunman, Thomas Hamilton, forced his way into Dunblane Primary School in central Scotland, shot dead 16 Primary 1 children and their teacher, injured many others, then turned the gun on himself.
The world was horrified, as a result of the this, described by some as Scotland’s blackest day, it was generally felt that the small town community of Dunblane would never be the same again. This paper proposes to examine whether the process of designing and building of a community facility using part of the fund gathered from donations sent from all over the world helped to bring order to the chaotic aftermath of the tragedy.
It will chart the architect and design teams involvement from the earliest point, shortly after the tragedy to now, 10 years later when a new community youth and sports centre has been built and operated for 2 years. It will analyse and interpret the processes of participation used to help a community in shock formulate a brief, it will examine the design decisions driven by a collective desire to learn from the tragedy, and it will attempt to assess the role of the facility has had in the natural healing process of the community. It will look at the delicate balance between celebration of life and remembering the dead that a memorial has to address, particularly poignant when dealing with children.
The project will be examined against other memorial projects, with a view to identifying a guide to best practice for designers faced with the responsibility of dealing with the results of extreme social disorder.
Bibliography:
Lonely Planet Guide to Britain, 1999
North, M. (2000) “Dunblane Never Forget”, Mainstream Publishing; Edinburgh & London
Prospect Magazine- Architecture and Design in Scotland, December 2004 issue, p11 |
