National Memorial Australian Capital Territory, Acton Peninsula North Canberra Property, ACT Architecture Australia
National Memorial in Acton, ACT
25 Feb 2022
Architects: SPRESSER and Peter Besley
Location: Acton Peninsula, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

images: Make Models
The Australian Government has unveiled the chosen design for the National Memorial for Victims and Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse, to be built in the nation’s capital Canberra.

National Memorial for Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
The winning proposal by architects Jessica Spresser and Peter Besley comprises a series of catenary arches made of cast glass with a meandering path encircling a meadow of perennial grasses and wildflowers.
?The memorial design seeks to hold in balance an acknowledgement of strength and vitality on the one hand, and recognition of trauma and loss on the other,? said the architects. ?The individual pieces of cast glass carry immense loads yet together create forms of exceptional grace and lightness, representing both fragility and great resilience.?
A national memorial for victims of child sexual abuse was one of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

The Memorial is dedicated to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, and was one of the recommendations of a Royal Commission. It is located next to the National Museum of Australia on Lake Burley Griffin, at...