NYC AIDS Memorial Park

New York, NY
Competition 2012

As well as a memorial for people who have died from AIDS, this is also a city park, a living memorial. The outside walls, representing death, are made of dark charcoal colored ceramic coated glass, ranging from opaque to translucent. The surface is deep, the reflections muted. The inside is white stone, green grass, trees. It represents life, a garden that spills into the street. It is also a place for music and performance.

At the center is an eternal flame in a large bronze sculpture. Prayers of remembrance and gratitude are inscribed on paper, set into the flame and released.

By entering this park, we come to an unspoken agreement that we will protect one another in our grief and we will love one another in our prayer and celebration. In this way a community is healed.