MEMORIAL TO VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE IN MEXICO

New York City, NY, United States

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Memorial to Victims of Violence in Mexico

MEMORIAL TO VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE IN MEXICO

New York City, NY, United States

Firm

Gaeta Springall Arquitectos

Type

Cultural › Memorial

YEAR

2013

SIZE

10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

BUDGET

$1M - 5M

The memorial project consists on seventy metalic walls built in corten steel rising between the trees; it is a dual play between nature and architecture: the forest of trees and the forest of walls. The list of materials is reduced to steel and concrete, added to the natural elements of the forest. We are using the corten steel in three ways: natural, rusty or stainless mirroring, each of them with different meanings. The rusty steel means the marks and scars that time makes in our lifetime. The stainless mirroring steel is used to reflect and multiply the living: persons, trees, and the water of the central space; and the natural steel is used as an unperturbed element that remind us the main and essential values that societies must keep to live in peace. Concrete is used for the lanes and the benches; for walking and reflection. In the central space, which is the main space of the Memorial, there is a 1,200 spm fountain with an undetermined form and open geometry, to remind us that the violence issue is still opened. The fountain is covered with a grid so that the visitor can walk over the water. Water means life; water cleans, and water heals.
In this area the steel walls rise stronger and taller, creating the strongest drama in the whole place. The reflection in the water of trees and walls make our eyes go up and down. When they go up, they see the sky, the light, the sun…the hope.
Finally, one of the most important parts of the project is the humanization and appropriation of the steel walls. Society is responsible for making the Memorial. The seventy metallic walls are spaces for people to write the name of their victim, and express their pain, anger, and longings. These steel walls play as mirrors and blackboards, and by the writings, being transformed into witnesses of the pain and destruction provoked by the violence of the organized crime.