PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Ten years after the January 8, 2011 mass-shooting at former US Representative Gabby Giffords’ Congress on Your Corner event, a memorial honoring the victims, survivors, and first responders of the shooting opened in Tucson, Arizona. Carved into the landscape of downtown El Presidio Park, surrounded by themed gardens, and buttressed by an earthen berm, a powder coated pearlescent steel inner wall is etched with symbols that relate to the lives, interests, and values of the individuals present that day, as well as to the history of the land where the monument sits, the memorial thoughtfully reflects the salient personal and societal issues it engages. In 19 seconds a crazed gunman unleashed 33 bullets, leaving six dead and thirteen wounded, a city in mourning and a country in shock. This felt like an attack on democracy itself. Visual artist Rebeca Méndez, architect and landscape designer Tina Chee, and project architect Marc Salette collaborated masterfully to answer the community’s call for a place to mourn and remember, with an architectural embrace and a universal symbolic language, to create a common ground that transcends political posturing on gun violence, and celebrates the shared value of life. — By Chee Salette and Rebeca Méndez.

PROJECT INFORMATION

Entry Type: Single Entry

Channel: Immersive

Primary Role of the Designer: Designer as change agent

Client Relationship: A retainer relationship

Intention of the Project: Introduction of a new product, service, or program

Development Budget: More than $50,000

Production/Execution Budget: More than $100,000

Source of Funding: Donations/crowdsourcing

Typefaces:

Paper:

Materials: Powder coated steel

CREDIT INFORMATION

Creative Director: Tina Chee: Lanscape Architect, Rebeca Méndez: Visual Artist, Marc Salette: Architect

Art Director:

Designers: Tina Chee: Lanscape Architect, Rebeca Méndez: Visual Artist, Marc Salette: Architect

Researchers: Adam Eeuwens and Jackie Kain: history and community outreach

Developers:

Copywriter: Adam Eeuwens

Illustrator: Symbols: Rebeca Méndez, Jason Lee, Mika Tohmon

Photographer: Iwan Baan

Printer:

Producer:

Other Credits: Team: Client: January 8th Memorial Foundation; Pima County; City of Tucson; Chee Salette: landscape and architecture; Rebeca Méndez: visual artist; agLicht: lighting; Jackie Kain: history and community outreach; Fluidity: water feature design; GLHN: civil, electrical, plumbing; Schneider Structural Engineers. Rebeca Méndez Studio team: Visual artist: Rebeca Méndez; Research, interviews and project management: Adam Eeuwens; Assistant design: Jihun Lee and Mika Tohmon; Production design: Angaea Cuna, Bijun Liang, Hazel, and Tiffany Taimoorazy.

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