A Swedish Artist Has Designed A Beautiful Memorial For The 77 Victims Of The Oslo Terrorist Attack

© Jonas Dahlberg, courtesy of KOROJonas Dahlberg's winning design.

On July 22, 2011, a bomb ripped through downtown Oslo, killing eight people and injuring hundreds. Less than two hours later, a gunman went on a rampage on the island of Utøya, targeting young members of the Norwegian Labour Party who were there for a summer camp.

77 people were killed that day, the deadliest attack in Norway since WWII.

Nearly three years later, Norway is building a memorial to commemorate the victims who lost their lives in the Oslo bombing and Utøya massacre. It held a design competition, and the winner of the competition is Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg, who NBC News reports was unanimously selected by the jury.

Dahlberg's designs show two public art memorials - one in Sørbråten and the other in the Government Quarter in Oslo. Here's what the jury of artists and government officials had to say about Dahlberg's design:

"Jonas Dahlberg's proposal takes the emptiness and traces of the tragic events of 22 July as its starting point. His suggestion for the Sørbråten site is to make a physical incision into the landscape, which can be seen as a symbolic wound."

© Jonas Dahlberg, courtesy of KORO

"Part of the headland will be removed and visitors will not be able to touch the names of those killed, as these will be engraved into the wall on the other side of the slice out of nature."

© Jonas Dahlberg, courtesy of KORO

"The void that is created evokes the sense of sudden loss combined with the long-term missing and remembrance of those who perished."

© Jonas Dahlberg, courtesy of KORO

"Dahlberg has proposed to move the landmass taken out of the rocky landscape at Sørbråten to the permanent and temporary memorial site in the Government Quarter in Oslo. By using this landmass to create a temporary memorial pathway between Grubbegata and the Deichmanske Library, a connection is forged between the memorial sites at Sørbråten and the Government Quarter. The names of those killed will be recorded on a wall that runs alongside the pathway."

© Jonas Dahlberg, courtesy of KORO

"The proposed permanent memorial site in Oslo takes the form of an amphitheater around Høyblokka. Dahlberg also proposes to use trees taken from Sørbråten in this urban environment to maintain the relationship between the memorial sites in the capital and to the victims of the atrocities at Utøya."

You can see more of the artist's designs here.