Meireles de Pinho's Corten Steel Memorial in Arcozelo Engraves Names of Colonial War Soldiers

Key facts

• From Darkness to Light is a commemorative sculpture by Meireles de Pinho in Arcozelo, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
• It honors young men from the area mobilized for the Colonial War in Africa between 1961 and 1974.
• The sculpture is an eight-meter-high vertical cylinder made of weathered corten steel rising directly from the ground.
• The cylinder's surface is engraved with the names of soldiers from Arcozelo who served in the war.
• Perforated markings distinguish those who departed and returned, while a cross identifies those who died in combat.
• A stainless-steel carnation emerges from the top, symbolizing Portugal's Carnation Revolution and the end of the Colonial Wars.
• The contrast between reflective stainless steel and opaque corten steel establishes a transition from darkness to light and war to freedom.
• The landscape's subtle modeling evokes the sea crossed by young men sent to a distant continent, making the terrain part of the monument.
• Photographs are by Daniel Sorrentino; the project was submitted via designboom's DIY submissions and edited by Christina Vergopoulou.