Jury comment
A little gem within East Melbourne’s Parliamentary Precinct, this project sets out to challenge the traditional notions of a memorial. Finely crafted, understated and of exceptional build quality, the memorial space is discreetly embedded within the terrain overlooking Fitzroy Gardens. After entering along a narrow path, visitors are cocooned in an elegant, womb-like seating area that offers space for contemplation and reflection. Consistent with the memorial’s philosophy and sensibility, messages from Traditional Custodians of the land are carefully integrated, and ashes from the opening smoking ceremony are embedded into the concrete of site elements.
The Victorian Family Violence Memorial is buitl in Melbourne, Victoria on the land of the Wurundjeri Woiwurrung people.
Project credits
Architect and landscape architect Muir and Openwork First Nations cultural collaborators Wurundjeri Woiwurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, Boon Wurrung Foundation and Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation Lead Indigenous advisor Sarah Lynn Rees Engineer WSP Irrigation designer Ten Buuren Irrigation Designs Head contractor Multipro Civil Construction Photographer Peter Bennetts
To view all the winners of the 2023 National Landscape Architecture Awards, go here.
