AIDS Memorial Park

New York, NY

AIDS Memorial Park

New York, NY

Any memorial to the AIDS epidemic in New York City must exist simultaneously as a site that honors the 100,000  New Yorkers who lost their lives, as a beacon giving visibility to a crisis that is too often stigmatized and silenced, and to celebrate the strength and vibrancy of the neighborhood and the greater NYC AIDS community. This iconographic memorial represents the individual stories and collective resiliency of the park by mirroring the sway of the birch trees toward the perimeter of the site. A singular path draws visitors from a natural park landscape into a grove of optical lightwork which direct light to concrete pedestals holding mementos of loved ones lost. The memorial serves as a living constellation of stories, recorded, and stored in an interactive digital archive.

The ground surface, acting as both programmed park and threshold between remembrance and contemporary community, is raised at the corner of 7th and Greenwich Avenues to create a sloped grassy corner facing Saint Vincent’s hospital to the north and opens up towards the neighborhood on the south side. Just as activists shed light on the epidemic by bringing education and awareness to the crisis, the lifted ground plane physically opens and unveils the ongoing work of the AIDS community to the greater public. It is our hope that this memorial park serves to celebrate the efforts and sacrifices of the AIDS community in New York and become a lush public space for the neighborhood while serving as a living memorial representative of the past, present, and future awareness of AIDS in New York City.