Cox Architecture with Williams, Abrahams and Lampros

Climbing to the top of the campanile-like tower that is the central focus of the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, one comprehends the enormity of a landscape that formed the battlefields of the Somme valley, where tens of thousands of Australians and others made the ultimate sacrifice. On a clear day, there’s nothing but fields and a hazy horizon. Looking down to the west, one sees the memorial’s forecourt and the graves of more than 2,100 soldiers. To the east, down below, is a grassed lawn (actually a roof) with a tiny triangular skylight; beyond, there is a series of steps into which an impression of the rising sun of the Anzac symbol is laid. Then there is the continuation of another axis heading off over the fields. One could assume that the whole ensemble was designed at a single moment and conceived as complete in its symmetry: a beautiful resolution of classical design principles