Columbus plants roots at Mandela Memorial
Brian Sell, an architect at Moody Nolan, won the design competition for the Mandela Memorial that will be built in California. Sell said they wanted to create a memorial that told the story of Nelson Mandela’s life, his years imprisoned in South Africa, and his courage and forgiveness. He drew inspiration for his design from Rolihlahla, the Xhosa tribal name given to Mandela at birth by his father, that means pulling the branches of a tree.
The 15-foot granite-and-bronze memorial (which is roughly the size of Mandela’s prison cell) plays off of the idea of light filtering through branches and creating a shaded area of shelter. The memorial has three granite foundation pieces, etched Mandela quotes and three bronze pieces that represent tree trucks and branches coming out of the granite. These bronze pieces then come together at the top and have patterns cut-out of them to allow for light to filter through, as well as water that will cascade down from the top into a pool.
About 200 entries from U.S. were entered into the Nelson Mandela Memorial Design Competition sponsored by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, a human-rights nonprofit organization. As the winner, Sell will receive a $1,000 prize along with the unveiling of his design at the Skylawn Memorial Park in San Mateo, CA in late 2015.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
