The Heatherwick Studio entry for the Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial

Dear Readers, I have been hard at work slogging away on the cause of biological variation and the nature of genetic mutation today, but I did manage to raise my head long enough to read about the current competition for a national memorial to Queen Elizabeth II, which is to be built in St James’s Park in central London. The list has been whittled down to 5 entrants, including the Heatherwick Studios offering above – you might remember Thomas Heatherwick for the aborted Garden Bridge, the exploding Routemasters, and the cauldron at the 2012 Olympics, although I do rather like the roof of the Coal Drops Yard complex, even though it looks a little like a droopy moustache.

Coal Drops Yard

The other four entries are by Foster and Partners….

Foster and Partners entry

JL Gibbons…

JL Gibbons entry

Tom Stewart Smith….

Tom Stuart Smith entry

and, finally, Wilkinson Eyre

Wilkinson Eyre entry

You can have a look at all five entries here  and I would love to know what you think if you have a minute. I already have a firm favourite, which I suspect won’t win, but you never know! You can see some more photos of the plans, and each finalist has a little 90 second video, some of which contain truly cringe-worthy prose. And if you have even more time, you can actually feedback to the powers that be. How could you resist?

I am muchly reminded of the Princess Diana memorial fountain in Hyde Park that turned out to be a health hazard and had to be shut down. Can we do it right this time? I am no great fan of the monarchy (as you might have guessed) but I am a Londoner, and this massive project will impact on a great chunk of London green space.

I will come clean with my favourite once I’ve heard back from you lovely lot. Fire away!