ifj

Lalita Tharani | Architect 
Collaborative Architecture | Mumbai
Project Name | Sandy Hook Memorial, Connecticut, USA

This is an entry for the international competition for a memorial at Newtown, for the 26 victims killed in one of the worst gun violence in USA. What makes this an outlier among the mass-shooting events, is the fact that 20 of the victims were aged between 5-7.

The design proposes easily deployable, locally accessible construction technologies: simple RCC construction is proposed for the enclosed and semi-enclosed structures, the paths/decks are in wood with Mild Steel sub-frames and pre-cast RCC pile/struts. A complete reliance to accessible technologies to make the project viable to build and maintain in the long run.

26 Chapels are located in the lower field, which forms the main part and the first phase. Chapel is a dedicated space for each of the 26 victims, a sacred space for the family and friends to reconnect and remember; an intimate space for the visitors to pay homage to. The Chapel is bare, except for the granite bench the community has gifted and a wooden ledge with a Granite top for the candles.

The existing landscape plays a singular role in the over-all design direction, and most of the surrounding landscape is kept untouched. The chapels and connecting paths sunken to ground frame the views and create a really understated architecture.