World Memorial to the Pandemic
Latin American Architecture firm Gómez Platero has released its’ design for a memorial to honour the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Called World Memorial to the Pandemic, the monument is the first large scale memorial designed for victims across the world.
World Memorial to the Pandemic. Image credit - Gómez Platero.
Proposed for a site in Uruguay, the project aims to be a “location for reflection.”
The firm says the “the monument is made to be an expression of hope in an uncertain time. It aims to be a space for mourning and reflection that's environmentally conscious and emotionally impactful.
“The simplicity of its form, created in a single, precise stroke, reinforces its silent and timeless power of expression. Sitting respectfully on the site, with minimal environmental impact, it is immersed in the nature of the place.” Image credit - Gómez Platero.
“As architects, we have assumed a commitment to conceive of and build a physical testimony to this singular collective juncture: a World Memorial to the Pandemic.”
The firm says the memorial’s purpose is to remind humanity that we are not at the centre of the ecosystem we live in and that we will always be “ subordinate to nature itself.”
The design teams says the global impact of Covid-19 has revealed a new map of the world.
“This new reality has conditioned our lifestyles, habits and the way we relate to each other. In this process, innumerable uncertainties arise with regard to the future. All activities and disciplines of knowledge are reformulating themselves to provide a response to this new crisis.”
“The circular geometry sums up the concept of unity and community. It takes shape as a concave sheet with which the architecture offers a precise reference point that reveals the constant variation of the natural landscape, a scale for measuring the strength of the sea, a place of shelter and exposure to the wind.” Image credit - Gómez Platero.
The team says the memorial is a meld of monument and public space - placed on the coast and the design “understanding and interpreting our relationship with dynamic nature, subordinated to its changes, will serve as a permanent reminder of our place in the world.”
The teams says the Memorial will be an object of simple and compelling form, that disappears as a result of changing climatic conditions, melting into the horizon. Image credit - Gómez Platero.
You can read more about the memorial here or find out more by viewing the video below.
