WORLD WAR I MEMORIAL

This project attempts to restore the idea of individual identity. Following the axes of the major monuments, a gridded formation of imposing stela occupy a large swath of an empty Pershing Park forcing one to confront the uncomfortable and devastating nature of this event.

While initial research uncovered countless images of trenches, unapologetically carving into the earth, further research revealed a deeper issue–the erasure of individual identity through homogenization and abstraction. In response to this research, the stela stand as positive earth, representing the many over the unified and giving rise to and supporting a new landscape above.

The scores of stela stand in the park unshielded and in plain view. Approaching the park, narrow separations between the stela break down the visually, monolithic mass. Moving into the formation through the narrow separation, a gravel path breaks the homogenous grid, shaping each stela; therefore, restoring a sense of individual identity in terms of its relationship with the path. The shaped stone receives a resin coating allowing it to reflect the movement of the people along the path. Closer inspection of the fine texture covering the facets, reveals it to be etchings of excerpts of veteran’s letters.

Eventually, the paths lead to one of three larger spaces carved out of the grid, where multiple people can reflect and look up to the elevated landscape and sky beyond. From here, one must depart from the group to individually move beyond the stela to again reach the exterior.