Korean War Memorial Project

Background
This memorial was commissioned as a tribute to the soldiers who fought in the Korean War. Because of the complexity of the initial concepts, the memorial design was taking place in Adobe Photoshop CS2. After the original concepts were refined and simplified the memorial was then modeled using Autodesk 3D Studio Max 8.

Initial Concepts
The first concepts for the War Memorial centered around the concept of an Australian and South Korean soldier standing atop a pedestal. After producing several concepts it was felt that the design was heading in the wrong direction and was refined to a simpler concept. This new concept replaced the soldiers with iconic symbols for a more powerful feel.

First 3D Concept
The first 3D concept developed for the War Memorial was a simple and somewhat under thought design. It combined the traditional Australian slouch hat mounted on a BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) with another figure based upon a modernized ying and yang from the South Korean flag. The concept was eventually rejected because of its obscurity and a more recognizable concept created.

Second 3D Concept
The new 3D concept was designed to follow an easily recognizable shape. The shape that was chosen for this purpose was the Rising Sun that forms the Australian Army logo. This was also chosen because of the evolution that led to the current Rising Sun logo. Historically the rays of the Rising Sun logo where formed with bayonets around a central crown and knowing this the monument was designed to replicate this through the use of Bayonets, Bamboo and BARs. In addition to this the traditional Slouch Hat was included as well as a Korean helmet.

To further tribute the soldiers who fought in Korea the monument includes the three Australian Armed Services badges, the United Nations badge, a map outlining the key offensives of the Korean War and an epitaph embossed on it.

Final Concept
The final concept is a further extension of the second concept. To give the main section of the monument a less crowded feel the badges and map were removed from the base, but the epitaph was left as it was. To ensure that the badges would still be included the central monument was surrounded by four stone pillars. These pillars would form a gateway of sorts to the monument and would house the badges and map. Because of the space limitations however the United Nations badge was not included in this final concept.

Concept to Reality
At the present time no decision has been made as to which, if any concept will produced or the location of the final Monument produced... We wait with baited breath.