New Omagh Memorial

the memorial garden looks ok but that glass pillar just looks ridiculous…

Yes I agree… garden is fine, the pillar is hidiously cheesey… belongs in Disneyland rather than the site of a bomb.

it might look very impressive at night, depending on the lighting….i dont think the graphic is very good, plus it hasnt been given a proper setting in the landscape…

i do like the idea of the 31 mirrors shining light onto the pillar…. i wonder how this will work in practise however….

some contoversy over the wording..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6999827.stm

….some more of the proposals http://www.seanhillen.com/omagh_folder/OMWG_Presentation.ppt
…lthe standard i think is pretty poor… a lot of gimmick and not much content

Doesn’t the whole thing seem unnecessarily over-complicated? Does anything this complex work the way it is supposed to in Ireland?

thanks starch….. i quite liked proposal 2 myself….

today is the 10th anniversary of the Omagh Bombing …….and hmmm the very complicated memorial garden was unvelied……. were 31 mirrors will reflect light onto 2 bigger mirrors which are mechanically timed to track the sun and will relect into the town centre and focus on a Tyrone crystal heart…trouble is many days are like today i.e overcast or raining …

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/7562329.stm

from 3:05 onwards

A memorial to something as awful as Omagh should inspire reflection (internal not external) and a realisation of the horror and futility of what happened; I agree with most posts – the garden is OK, but the reflecting stuff is dire and over-complicated. The monument at Oulart Hill knocks this into a cocked hat and will provide the more lasting memorial.

yeah was looking at it today, to be fair even in the rain it catches the light, but the they just look like unfinished sign posts, they could have made the reflectors more shapely

@Sulmac wrote:

… garden is fine,

again 20 birch trees passes as a garden:(

I was born in Omagh, I return frequently and I have had a long interest in planning and development. During the consultation process the public where given a chance to view the five shortlisted designs for the memorial garden and where invited to respond via a comment slip.I stated on the form that while I believed all of the proposals to have merit Sean Hillen’s design lacked the seclusion and intamacy required for a space of personal reflection, was unnessarly complicated and would be a broken, malfunctioning piece of gimmic art within a decade. Imagine my unplesant surprise as I drove past the “garden” briefly on wednesday to find my worst fears exceeded. The masive football stadiumesque lighting/mirror gantry dominates the site which is wet and windswept and exposed to the passing motorists like a f**king drive-in funeral parlour. And local ratepayers have to pay for this themselves. The truth would be a more fitting memorial.
Words alone cannot express how upset i feel this is just shite.

Debris and food thrown at Omagh bomb memorial
http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/UH/free/304841186756381.php

Victim’s family want nothing to do with this ‘garish pop-art folly’

http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/UH/free/295477421982567.php

http://www.nwipp-newspapers.com/UH/free/298376198154859.php

I agree completely, very insensitive in terms of design and o how people might want to pay their respects.
full images herehttp://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?src=refinement&query=z.i.H4sIAAAAAAAEAO29B2AcSZYlJi9tynt_SvVK1-B0oQiAYBMk2JBAEOzBiM3mkuwdaUcjKasqgcplVmVdZhZAzO2dvPfee–999577733ujudTif33_8_XGZkAWz2zkrayZ4hgKrIHz9-fB8_In7dfLn91etf49f4NX6PX_dskV3kvyb9-pj-_-tW9Nf81xzh742PafBrJnVVtS-zOls0v5Z-hp-_1u4Ofv3N8E9C___13r2-bk7fmVd_Te9vfiU7N7_-mvo7oPza2fnUomL-wP9_bfzc4Y4WrXvT_f7rUOPSfmH_wnu_Lv1RLyzY8M9fH8138devx59PLIzO3_zaeQjF_slQdiyU8w4U9ze_VodQ7J8MZc9CqTtQ3N9Emdy89Gvij19b_2Ay7eK339C0_Y3N50STfGU-_TWDv36t3HXl_f5r5Y33sf39125W9s1fE38YVH4r–Ll1L3ofv91qtrjCPsXfzXJ_a_MX3h-7dnV0vz-a5o_fh38v1lPHILBX792njkM_D_o95X_hf3j120CaOGfv_a7Z88dvekP-0VWe7h5f_xGzbRa5U_Wy1npETH41AD8ccB5sHMfrf4fY-tMz6cDAAA.&rid=82298331&rcat=Event&rt=GBR%3A%2010th%20Anniversary%20Commemorations%20Of%20Omagh%20Bombings#

i don’t think some have considered the light tech behind the sculpture.
the getty photos don’t show the reflector on the the corner buidling
the crystal heart looks very old fashioned even within the glass block

i don’t see a prob with the garden being open consider they were trying to connect it with the location of the actual bomb.

i dont understand where that person is coming from mentioning tourists???

the poles are still horrible though

I have viewed the Mirror system on several occasions in conditions ranging from overcast to strong sunlight on a cloudless day, it was never working! At the time of writing scaffolding has been erected around the deflectors attached to slevin’s Chemist and the main pivoting reflector was pointing skywards reflecting the grey sky back on itself. The consensus from anybody i have spoken to in the town is that we have been left with a ridiculous folly. Shame on the judging panel for this competition. what was Sean Hillen thinking? I have nothing but respect for his previous body of work maybe there are two sean hillens? I dont know. Ahhhh

max you just need to text your mobile number to the US laser weapon satellite ph. no. 1800vapourizeme
orbiting the earth and they will sort you out with some reflections 😀