AIDS MEMORIAL PARK

Competition Entry

J.MAYER.H Architects
Competition Team: Juergen Mayer H., Hugo Reis, Jascha Fink

Open Competition 2012

Client: NYC, USA

An unknown landscape
A green urban escape
An atmosphere of sun and shadow at daytime
An ambient world at night

A community space underneath
A center for digital and interactive exhibitions
A place for teaching and meditation
A place to share

A territory to conquer and occupy
A reality that brings people together
A place for activism and retreat
A place to contemplate on loss and hope
A place to listen to individual stories

A community to share with
A point of contact for help and advice
A time to fight
A platform to argue

A mix of sounds from voices, streets and birds
A blend of odors of city and plants
A park to connect beyond the physical location
A materiality that is both solid and ephemeral
A selection of polished concrete surfaces and plants

A moment in silence
A place to commemorate
A park for all

The New York City AIDS Memorial Park Campaign is a coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to the recognition and preservation of the ongoing history of the AIDS crisis. In the 30th year of the epidemic, we seek to honor the more than 100,000 New York City men, women and children who have died from AIDS, and to commemorate and celebrate the efforts of the caregivers and activists who responded heroically to the crisis. We represent artists, health care providers, historians, family, friends and neighbors committed to remembering the history of the crisis.

The site is located at the gateway to New York City’s storied West Village neighborhood and blocks from the Chelsea neighborhood, on a triangle of land bounded by Seventh Avenue, West 12th Street and Greenwich Avenue. The cultural significance of this site cannot be overstated; it stands at the epicenter of the AIDS epidemic in New York City through its adjacency to the former St. Vincent’s Hospital.