A team including renowned architect Daniel Liebeskind was chosen to create a national Holocaust monument in Ottawa.  

The winning team is led by Gail Dexter Lord of Toronto-based Lord Cultural Resources, which also consulted on the Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg and the 9/11 Museum in New York. Both his parents were Holocaust survivors.

The design features a gathering space for ceremonies with room for 1,000 people enclosed by six triangular, concrete segments to create the points of a star — reminiscent of the yellow stars that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust.

“The winning design is a fully integrated proposal in which architecture, landscape, art and interpretation communicate the hardship and suffering of victims while conveying a powerful message of humanity’s enduring strength and survival,” a government media release issued May 12 said.

Liebeskind’s buildings include the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, the Jewish Museum in Berlin and the Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen.

The monument is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2015. Canada “will no longer be the only Allied nation without a national Holocaust monument,” noted the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.  — jta