19-S MEMORIAL
Estudio Alejandro Olivier in collaboration with PA-AR Taller and urbanist Anabel Chavéz, Second Place Winner proposal for the 19-S Memorial. A local design competition based in Mexico City, to honor the victims of the last year earthquake tragedy lived by the Mexican people.
The specific conditions of the site, as being one of the most iconic places of the 9/19 earthquake’s aftermath, encouraged us to develop an architectural proposal defined as a set of contrasting pieces rather than a single building per se. The proposal unfolds two spaces with different functions and activities linked by a central element that becomes the Memorial.
The first space is the Plaza, a big void which is contained by large textured walls; the rough and fragmented textures of these walls seem to remember the pain of the recent tragedy. The second space is a Community Center. The Community Center is designed as a place where people are encouraged to build a better future through the act of learning, critical reflection and solidarity. In between these two places, the Memorial appears as a monumental and transitional space where silence and solemnity honor the lives of those who were lost.
THE PLAZA
The void that remembers the recent tragedy
THE MEMORIAL
The solemn space that honors the lives of those who were lost.
THE COMMUNITY CENTER
The community that builds a better future.