Passchendaele remembrance

One of seven poppy shaped gardens being developed at the Passchendaele Memorial Museum 1917, in Belgium, is the New Zealand memorial garden designed by Boffa Miskell.

It was the winning entry in an invited design competition run by the New Zealand based Passchendaele Society to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele.

Boffa Miskell landscape architect, Cathy Challinor, responded to the brief's three symbolic themes to acknowledge the loss of so many soldiers’ lives in the war: remembrance through plant symbolism, remembrance through visual art and remembrance through literature.

“The Passchendaele Society was very receptive to the concept of using symbolism through design elements as a way to evoke the deep commemorative meaning. It is a privilege to work with them on such a special project.”

Each theme is expressed as a discrete design element within the garden petals but the design themes also span the whole space to help unify the exhibit. The garden, which will be installed in 2015, will sit alongside those of six other participating countries.