PARK BORNEOPLEIN WITH JEWISH MEMORIAL ‘LIGHT OF REMEMBRANCE’

The small park at Borneoplein in Amersfoort was transformed to house and experience the Jewish Memorial ‘Light of Remembrance’. Park and memorial are intertwined.
The existing park was poorly used. It was uninviting due to its formal layout with few paths and a concrete pond. It was redesigned to facilitate the Jewish Memorial. At the same time, the renovation of the park was an opportunity to increase the accessibility, make the park climate-resilient, biodiversity-friendly and a neighbourhood meeting place.

About the memorial

Light of Remembrance is a memorial in memory of the 360 Jewish men, women and children from the city of Amersfoort who perished during World War II. The memorial consists of 360 light objects, each object symbolising one victim. Each light object consists of a pillar and a mirrored cube that measures 10 by 10 cm. The size of the cube corresponds to the memorial stones in the sidewalks in Amersfoort, in front of the houses where Jewish residents and resistance fighters had their last place of residence.
The height of the pillar indicates whether it involves a man, woman or child. Family members are grouped together.

The lights

A light burns in the corresponding cube on the date of the death of each victim – and the evening before that. All of the lights are lit on May 4th, during Remembrance Day and on January 27th during Holocaust Memorial Day. The memory of the victims therefore lives on every day in the memorial. A beacon in the pond is always lit, which symbolises the eternal light.

About the park design

Borneoplein forms the link between the city and the countryside. This is where the Klein Zwitserland woods meet the stately tree-lined Pasteurstraat.

The outer rim of the park consists of grassland, trees and grouped flowering shrubs that create a buffer between the monument and the surrounding neighbourhood. The flowering shrubs of varying heights create a balance between open and closed, public and private. It strikes a balance between space for the monument and space and privacy for local residents, whilst also contributing to biodiversity. Almost all existing trees were kept.

The tree-lined avenue ends at the main meeting place of the park: the pond with the beacon in the centre, surrounded by Japanese cherry trees. The concrete pond has been replaced by a rainwater pond with natural banks and water-purifying riparian vegetation. The pond is the hart of the field of weeping grasses that house the 360 light pillars. The grasses and pillars have matching green tones to enhance the focus on the light cubes.

In addition to the main paths for a stroll through the park, there is a dense network of narrow, winding paths that allow visitors to pause at each pillar.

Soon, phase two of the plan will be realised: The surrounding streets are renovated. The roundabout will be taken out to make room for a larger park.

Client: Municipality of Amersfoort
Park design: Baljon landschapsarchitecten
Design Jewish Memorial: Tamar Frank
Production Monument: Smartlight
Construction park: Janse & Berkhof Tuinen
Photo’s:, Nadine van de Berg, Eva Kasbergen

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