MIT Officer Collier Memorial | MIT | Cambridge

datadyne007 said:
Completely agreed. It's really the hardscape that is the issue, not the fact that it's excessive memorializing. A tranquil sitting garden on that hardscape would be a much better tribute rather than bizarre holey walls and slab seats. No one wants to sit on a stone seat.
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Data -- you've got your wish in Medford -- the memorial to Krystal Campbell and the other victims of the Tsarnaevs will be a garden next to Medford Senior Center

http://www.medfordma.org/2015/02/27/krystle-campbell-peace-garden-fundraiser-march-12/
Krystle Campbell Peace Garden Fundraiser March 12

Posted on February 27, 2015
Mayor Michael J. McGlynn today announced that the City of Medford has reached its goal of $1.128 million to construct the Krystle Campbell Peace Garden.

“The Krystle Campbell Peace Garden will honor the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings- Medford native Krystle Campbell, Lingzi Lu, Martin Richard and Officer Sean Collier- as well as all the survivors injured during the bombings. The Krystle Campbell Peace Garden will be a peaceful and passive park for all to reflect, relax and to enjoy,” said Mayor McGlynn.

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Does the Collier Memorial look at all like the Davis Square traffic sign in plan to anyone else but me?

cca


Ps. I guess its missing a leg.

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Whoa. I didn't even know this was under construction.
 
Cold, sterile and uninviting. Good job MIT. Nothing says a memorial celebrating someone's life like a large dead space.
 
What are those metal studs embedded in the ground? Anti-skateboarding texture? The memorial text in Braille?
 
I think it looks pretty cool/interesting.

Guess it wouldn't be aB though if nobody bitched.
 
meddlepal said:
Cold, sterile and uninviting. Good job MIT. Nothing says a memorial celebrating someone's life like a large dead space.
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I haven't actually been there yet so can't critique fairly, but there is not necessarily anything wrong with a minimalist contemplative space as opposed to a place to have a party, considering the history of what happened there.

That said, I did walk by it a block away on Main St and it seemed underwhelming from a distance, but I won't judge till I actually visit up close.
 
I haven't seen it in person but the photo offers some sense of what the architect intended. For me it appears to be a three-dimensional cross-roads at the nexus of pathways, inviting introspection. Sometimes less is more, and a rest for the eyes and a lack of sense-stimulation allows for greater inner contemplation, even if for a moment. It appears not to be a gathering space, which is a good thing, for those who wish a moment of solitude to rest and remember. This can be good for the soul.
 
Passed by it today and I thought it worked pretty well in person.
 
New article from MIT News on the design process and construction.

https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/sean-collier-memorial-design-0428

Eventually the form took shape: five radial walls that could be interpreted as a hand, but that would also create separate spaces. The empty space in the middle is in the precise shape of one specific stone — from a cairn built in tribute to Collier by MIT’s Outing Club, a hiking group of which Collier was a vital part.
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