Monuments in the architectural catalogue are structures whose primary purpose is commemorative or symbolic rather than functional — memorials, observation towers, triumphal structures, and sculptural landmarks that mark events, ideals, or collective memory in the built landscape.
From the Soviet war memorials of Berlin to Peter Eisenman's Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, architectural monuments use scale, material, and spatial experience to give physical form to abstract concepts. The most powerful examples — Maya Lin's Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Daniel Libeskind's voided spaces — achieve their impact through restraint rather than grandiosity.
