7 July 2005 Tavistock Square Bombings Memorial

The memorial commemorates the thirteen innocent victims who lost their lives in the terrorist bombing at Tavistock Square on the 7 July 2005.

The memorial avoids any representation of the act and references it in the tersest, objective terms. It has a sculptural form and is cast from six tonnes of ‘pig iron’; a material normally associated with manhole covers or drainage grilles. Its placement and inscription reference the location of the incident.

From within garden, the plaque forms an interruption in the order of the landscape, and frames a view to the exact location of the incident in the road. From the pavement, a passer-by may notice the plaque taking the place of a missing kerbstone, causing them to read the inscription.

The style of lettering designed differs from that usually used on memorials: it is a sanskrit – an everyday kind of letter – one which has a long history, but which develops in its modern formative period (19C) in England, and in particular in London.

The layout too, departs from the norm, taking its cue from the verticality of the railings and leading the eye from the quiet of the garden to the street beyond and the site of the bombing itself.

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