In Marcinelle, on the site of Marc Dutroux’s former home, there is now a garden in memory of his victims. The title of the project, “Between Earth and Sky”, refers to the elevation of the garden, but also says something about the appropriate place for remembrance: somewhere between the physicality of the place and its symbolic transfiguration.

Erecting a memorial primarily responds to a symbolic need. The memorial gives an event the physical space it lacks to anchor the memory and allow for contemplation. But it also happens that the event has left a site too full of memory, marked by a tragic history that makes it impossible to imagine any new form of occupation.