Brooklyn architecture firm Studio a+i has nabbed the top prize in a design competition for a public park and memorial on a wedge of land in New York City's West Village.
Called Infinite Forest, it is devoid of
statues, sculptures or plaques. Instead, the architects have proposed
three separate, 3.6-metre-tall facing mirror walls that frame – and
reflect – 20 white birch trees and delineate the triangular block from
the surrounding neighbourhood. For the wall's street-facing sides, the
design proposes a chalkboard finish that welcomes impromtu chalk-written
messages from visitors and passersby.
The site was initially occupied by St. Vincent's Hospital, a facility that once housed the globe's most advanced HIV
treatment programs. Below the
park, the firm has proposed a wedge-shaped, learning centre, equipped to
host exhibitions and performances and accessed by stairs and ramps and
lit via skylights.
"The image is just so captivating. It
succeeds as an urban space that is both a neighbourhood park and a
memorial. I didn’t see it as an either/or," says Michael Arad, jury chair and designer of the National September 11 Memorial.
