The controversial Tsunami Museum in Aceh, Indonesia, will come to represent a fitting place for reflection but at its opening last week a row over the 700 families still to be re-housed overshadowed the event. Accusations of misplaced priorities over the locals left homeless after the Tsunami of 2004 were triggered by the investment of millions of dollars in a monument rather than housing, but now the Tsunami Museum in Aceh is complete it presents an opportunity for closure and a chance to move on.

Designed by local Indonesian architect Ridwan Kamil, the 2,500 m2 four-storey structure serves as a lasting tribute to the 230,000 killed by one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent history, some two thirds of whom resided in the Aceh province. With many local people still in need of proper accommodation, the architect has taken care to ensure that the building acknowledges both the victims, whose names are to be inscribed on the wall of one of the museum’s internal chambers, and the surviving members of the local community.