AIDS has, in 30 years, undergone a revolution. AIDS is now a diseased to be managed rather than a death sentence we once feared. Thus, this center must be more than a memorial – it should be a place of learning, education, and shared knowledge.
This proposal speaks to the duality of the program – as a place of remembrance for those affected by AIDS and as a center for a neighborhood lacking its own public space. The Memorial and Learning Center are conceived as elements that can be either inconspicuous or notable, transformed by the interaction of light and material.
Through a series of ground plane manipulations, the center of the Memorial becomes a terraced amphitheater – a casual living room for neighbors, or a central gathering spot for visitor/activists/mourners. The backdrop to the amphitheater is the heart of the program – the education center and its rotating quilt display, which so poetically reminds us of the personal nature of this disease.
