GLOBAL AFFAIRS CANADA MEMORIAL

 
Year2021 -
Location Diefenbaker Lawn, Green Island - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Materials concrete megablocks, bronze commemorative elements



Global Affairs Canada (GAC) is the department of the Canadian government responsible for managing diplomatic and consular relations, promoting international trade, and leading international development and humanitarian assistance efforts. To pay tribute to those who have died while serving Canada overseas, GAC has commissioned a lasting memorial to honour the dedication and recognize the sacrifices made by these individuals and their families. 

In 2020, Canadian Heritage (PCH) launched a two-stage national design competition, including design guidelines prepared by the National Capital Commission (NCC) in consultation with the NCC’s Advisory Committee on Planning, Design and Realty (ACPDR), and a vision statement established by GAC. Four teams were later shortlisted by a competition jury that included experts in the fields of art and design, and representatives from GAC and affected families. 









In 2022, the Government of Canada announced that the design presented by Polymetis was selected for the Global Affairs Canada Memorial. The project is currently under construction and anticipated to open in 2026.



















In astronomy, an Analemma is a diagram showing the position of the sun in the sky as seen from a fixed location on earth at the same time of day, as that position varies over the course of a year. The diagram will resemble a figure-eight.
The proposed site-specific memorial is inspired by the Analemma and symbolism of the figure-eight, aligning each individual's name to the noonday sun on their date of death.


Site-specific Analemma and memorial plan













The memorial is located on the open lawn southwest of the John G. Diefenbaker Building (formerly Ottawa City Hall and now housing Global Affairs Canada offices). The design of the memorial is inspired by the primary formal language of architect Moshe Safdie’s 1994 addition to the Diefenbaker Building and is oriented perpendicular to that building and the Lester B. Pearson Building, GAC’s headquarters directly across the Rideau River to the south.













Projections of noonday analemma onto commemorative sculpture





 A 50mm aperture on the interior of the memorial is wide enough to guarantee that point-like markers are illuminated during months near the equinoxes.
The result of a 50mm wide aperture



Date markers are illuminated for 6.2 minutes on the summer solstice and 2.3 minutes on the winter solstice.










Megablocks are currently in production





 Project Sponsor
Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Project Lead, Manager of Design Competition
Canadian Heritage (PCH)
Procurement, Construction, ApprovalsNational Capital Commission (NCC)
Landowner, Assumes ownership of ArtworkPublic Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC)

Artist & Design Team Lead
Polymetis

Local Architect
GRC Architects

Landscape Architect
James B. Lennox

Structural, Solar & Drainage Engineer
Arup

Lighting Designer
Gabriel Mackinnon

Precast Concrete
BPDL

BronzeBehrends