ATOMIC LAKE MEMORIAL

Team Project

The Last Nuclear Bomb Memorial Competition

Location: Kazakhstan

The project site is Lake Balapan (Lake Chagan) in Semipalatanisk, Kazakhastan. This lake was created by the Soviet Union Chagan nuclear test in 1965. This site was chosen because of the symbolism between the natural lake and the lake created as a direct result of an atomic test. This atomic lake represents the past and the humanhand while the natural lake represents the future and the environmental movement prompted by protests towards nuclear testing.

The building sits on the axis between the first and last year as a placeholder to claim the end of nuclear testing. The building form and placement serves to "stitch" together the past and future both in plan and section.

At Lake Balapan, nuclear testing occurred here over a span of 25 years. In this design, the atomic lake was turned into a timeline, divided into 25 sections. Utilizing morse code, the number of tests that happened each year are shown through steel truncated cones and concrete prisms that take the form of benches. There are 4 years during this time that did not have tests and these are represented by natural stone and trees.