About the New York City AIDS Memorial Design

In conjunction with Architectural Record and Architizer, the NYC AIDS Memorial launched an international design competition in November 2011, chaired by Michael Arad, the designer of the National September 11 Memorial, to generate ideas for the memorial park design. Nearly 500 architects from around the world submitted designs. Studio a+i, led by Mateo Paiva, Lily Lim and Esteban Erlich, won the competition to become the park’s architect. Their design features an 18-foot white triangular steel canopy, central granite water fountain and benches, and serves as the dramatic gateway to the new New York City AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent’s Triangle in the West Village.

Renowned visual artist Jenny Holzer chose and arranged passages from “Song of Myself” (1855), poet Walt Whitman’s transcendent celebration of hope, unity, and human dignity, which are engraved in the Memorial’s granite pavement. The Memorial is a place of contemplation and provides a shelter for reflection and remembrance of the men, women, and children lost to AIDS. It also serves as a gathering place and reminder of the work that remains to defeat the disease.