Building a vision

In November 2019 people from all over Britain will gather around an unusual, almost blank vertical stone monument in the middle of Whitehall, the wide street of government that leads from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament.

The monument in question is called the Cenotaph, using the Greek words kenos tapho (or “empty tomb”) because it commemorates those buried elsewhere. It was unveiled 100 years ago, although the original structure was constructed in wood and rebuilt in stone the following year. The memorial appears to be full of vertical lines, but they are subtly shaped; if extended into the air, all sides of the Cenotaph would meet at a point 1,000 feet above Whitehall.

It was here on 11 November 1919 that British soldiers and politicians assembled to pay tribute to the 953,104 service personnel from Britain and its empire who had died during World