Mindeflåden

Copenhagen, Denmark

‘Jeres forslag forstår, underordner sig og bygger videre på det oprindelige anlægs ide og geometri, samtidig med at det er et selvstændigt værk, storladent og nedtonet på en gang – det er godt gået!’ – Dan Ljungar

Next to the large grave field lie 31 stone slabs shaped like boats in the grass. Together they form a stone fleet, sailing through Mindelunden. The slabs represent the 31 Danish ships participating in Operation Overlord on June 6th 1944, symbolising in their turn the 245 Danish ships and 5000 Danes who sailed as part of the Allied Merchant Fleet during the Second World War. Symbolising strength and togetherness, this stone fleet is the memorial: Mindeflåden.

Axel Andersen and Kaj Gottlob designed Mindelunden as a memorial landscape. Taking inspiration from the Danish landscape, they composed a plan with different spatial experiences; a clearing in the forest, an open field with solitary trees, a treelined avenue and a covered walk. Within these landscapes the memorial sculptures are placed, each in their own space while being part of the whole. The original design merges art and landscape architecture, creating a masterpiece of the Golden Age of Danish landscape architecture.This proposal respects the monumental values of the site and tries to add the new memorial in this spirit.