The task of the competition included three memorials: near the island of Utøya, where 69 people died and more than a hundred were injured, a temporary monument in the government quarter of Oslo, where the explosion killed eight and injured 209 people, and a permanent memorial there.
Dahlberg, having visited the sites of the attacks, noticed how nature gradually hides the traces of the tragedy, while everything inside the buildings reminds of what happened. Therefore, all three projects are based on the idea of a wound that heals over time and turns into a scar.
The first memorial, "The wound of memory", will be located in the area of Sørbroten, on a promontory on the shore of Lake Tyrifjord, not far from the island of Utøya located on this lake. Visitors will first have to walk through the forest on wooden walkways, and then enter a short tunnel leading to an artificial crevasse 3.5 m wide, which completely cuts off the tip of the cape from the land.
Through the final window the window will be visible, but absolutely inaccessible, the opposite side of the "wound", where the names of those killed in the terrorist attack are carved. A piece of the cape, forever separated from the land, signifies the irreversible loss that the relatives of the victims and the whole of Norway have experienced.
The temporary memorial "Time and Movement" in the government quarter will be created using 1000 m3 of stone, living trees and other plants, which will have to be relocated when the complex in Sorbroten is created.
It will be a slightly deepened road next to the usual direct route for the townspeople between Akersgat and Grabbegata streets: this arched path symbolizes the change in everyday life caused by the terrorist attack. The names of those killed in Oslo and Utøya will be carved into "trenches" on one side, and wide steps will be erected on the other.
A permanent memorial "Dialogue for the Future" will be set up at the entrance to the main building of the government quarter, made of the remaining granite from Sorbroten. Trees and other plants will also be transferred there from the temporary memorial. Its appearance as an open amphitheater will remind you of the importance of maximum openness for the residence of the Norwegian authorities. The names of the victims of the July 22, 2011 double terrorist attack will be engraved on the walls of the deepened alley dividing it in two.
The amphitheater has no stage space, because there will be no spectators. It is designed for informal, non-“prescribed” dialogue - the main tool against intolerance and hatred.
