"A New Sacred Space in the Centre of London": The Victoria Tower Gardens Holocaust Memorial and the Religious-Secular Landscape of Contemporary Britain
This article considers the relationship between Britain’s 21st century religious-secular landscape and the current plans to build a national Holocaust memorial next to the Houses of Parliament in London. I argue that the project should be understood as the construction of a new sacred site. Architec...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
Journals Online & Print: | |
Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
Published: |
Creighton University
2017
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In: |
The journal of religion & society
Year: 2017, Volume: 19 |
Further subjects: | B
Holocaust
B Islam B Judaism B Britain B Christianity B Memorial |
Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
Summary: | This article considers the relationship between Britain’s 21st century religious-secular landscape and the current plans to build a national Holocaust memorial next to the Houses of Parliament in London. I argue that the project should be understood as the construction of a new sacred site. Architectural elements in the design competition entries and the project’s underlying ideological framing variously intersect with Judaism, Christianity, Islam, as well as narratives of British identity and history. I propose that, despite the extreme and harrowing nature of the events being memorialized, the project should be scrutinized for the interplay of religious-secular elements and contemporary nationalism. Additionally, I conclude that the outcomes of the memorial’s interface with manifestations of sacrality may be more unpredictable than its organizers anticipate. |
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ISSN: | 1522-5658 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of religion & society
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Persistent identifiers: | HDL: 10504/114374 |