LONDON (AP) — What could be a better memorial to Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, than a pod of faintly psychedelic giant lily pads? Perhaps a big bronze tree or a recording of the late monarch’s voice.
All those ideas feature among the five finalists for a permanent London monument to Elizabeth, who died in September 2022 at the age of 96 after 70 years on the throne.
The government is asking for public feedback on an online exhibition of the designs that opened Wednesday.
Competition organizers put out the call to designers for “an emotionally powerful place and a space for pause and reflection.” The memorial will be built near Buckingham Palace in St. James’s Park, an immaculately landscaped green space known for its waterfowl-filled lake, resident pelicans and neatly pruned flower beds.
Computer-generated images of the five finalists show a park transformed.
The entry by architect Thomas Heatherwick’s Heatherwick Studio includes a canopy of giant limestone lily pads with twisting stems towering over a statue of the queen.
Another concept is “a tranquil family of royal gardens” linked by “a natural stone tessellated path” designed by architect Norman Foster’s firm Foster + Partners, with a rippling “wind sculpture” by artist Yinka Shonibare and audio installations featuring Elizabeth’s voice.
The other concepts include a bedrock bridge – because “the queen was the nation’s bedrock” – and forested glades by landscape architects J&L Gibbons; a memorial by garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith centered on a bronze cast of an ancient oak tree; and a thread of pathways and landscapes “gently woven through the natural fabric” of the park by architects WilkinsonEyre.
The queen’s former private secretary Robin Janvin, who is chairing the Queen Elizabeth Memorial Committee, said the goal is to create “a landmark memorial of outstanding beauty that celebrates and honors the life of Queen Elizabeth II.”
“Memories of her long reign are still fresh for so many of us and we need to capture the essence of them for future generations,” he said.
Separately, the committee will select an artist to create a sculpture of Elizabeth as part of the final design. Several of the shortlisted proposals feature statues of the queen on horseback.
The public consultation closes on May 19 and the committee is expected to announce the winning bid in the summer. The final design is scheduled to be submitted to King Charles III and Prime Minister Keir Starmer for approval in 2026, the 100th anniversary of the queen’s birth.
Building the memorial is expected to cost between 23 million pounds and 46 million pounds ($30 million and $60 million), the government said.
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