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'TEARS' OF A NATION: ART CENTER STUDENT WINS DESIGN COMPETITION FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL
Pasadena Weekly
Feb 28 2013
By Nick Smith 02/28/2013
Earlier this month, the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee
(PAGMC) approved an Art Center College of Design student's concept for
a monument commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, a human slaughter that started in 1915 and did not end until
1923, after 1.5 million people had been killed.
The concept offered by 26-year-old Catherine Menard was one of 17
reviewed by the committee, many of them submitted by established
architects and designers. Menard came up with the concept as part of
"Designmatters," an Art Center program focusing on humanitarian need
and social change.
"I was attracted to this project because we [designers] don't often
have the opportunity to engage in design work that is so deeply
meaningful to people," said Menard, who is not Armenian, but of French
Cajun descent. She moved with her family to Los Angeles from Louisiana
when she was 4. "I had made a few close Armenian friends at school,"
she said, "so I was especially curious."
"This was an educational experience for all that I feel will have them
viewing their world in a fresh, new perspective, one with compassion,
sensitivity, remembrance and hope for the human condition," said Art
Center Instructor James Meraz of the intensive seven-week course in
which Menard and six other students submitted designs.
An Environmental Design major at Art Center, Menard didn't always know
where her artistic instincts could or would be applied. With a passion
for history, dance, architecture and film, it wasn't until others
encouraged her to pursue it that she really considered environmental
design. "[It] offered endless creative outlets for me," said Menard of
her chosen area of study.
"Every project was a new world," she said of the curriculum's demands.
"It is the most challenging and rewarding work I could have ever
imagined, and has proven to be where I truly belong." After
graduation, Menard plans to attend graduate school to study
architecture and historic preservation.
The concept for the memorial, one of three designs Menard worked on,
"had the strongest effect on the class and me, emotionally. It both
moved me and terrified me," Menard said.
As she described it, the minimalist design is "a death structure that
is weeping over a carved stone basin ... set into the ground." With a
drop of water falling into the basin every three seconds, by April 24,
the memorial's commemoration date, 1.5 million "teardrops" will have
fallen, representing the lives lost in the "Great Crime" committed by
Ottoman Turks during the course of World War I and afterward.
Although normally reserved for memorials commemorating America's wars,
the structure will be placed in Pasadena's Memorial Park, as
determined by the Department of Public Works and City Manager Michael
Beck.
"This [memorial] will serve as a meeting place for multi-generational
families of the community to contemplate such a horrific event," Meraz
said.
Architect Stefanos Polyzoides, consulting architect on the project and
one of three panelists entrusted with choosing the design, told the
Weekly why he was particularly impressed with Menard's concept.
"When you sit in front of projects and you look at them for a while,
some of them stand out. ... [Menard's work] was the most sensitive and
the most imaginative and the most poetic of all the designs in
commemorating the horror of genocide, particularly this one."
It is important to note that Menard's design is a concept for a
memorial not to be completed until 2015. As such, (and given the
politically sensitive nature of the project), those involved are
reluctant to share specifics with the media "until the right time" -
during the approval process by the city of Pasadena.
"It's an 'ideas' competition. You don't have to answer in the kind of
definitive way that you would in front of a public works commission,"
said Polyzoides. While it has been confirmed that a meeting was held
on Thursday, Feb. 14, at City Hall to establish a schedule for the
approval process, final details, including functionality, size,
materials and cost will be determined by Polyzoides and his team,
including Menard, who will not receive compensation for the design,
save for the satisfaction of being a part of something so meaningful.
When asked about what inspired her toward this particular image,
Menard quoted a poem by Siamanto, an Armenian poet among the first to
be killed in the Genocide: "Don't be afraid / I must tell you what I
saw / So people will understand / the crimes men do to men / For two
days, by the road / to the graveyard."
A somber reflection of an ugly chapter in human history, the words are
nonetheless inspiring of something beautiful and emotive to help
people remember the past. When asked how she felt when her design was
selected, Menard said, "I was completely emotional and elated, then
moments later ... felt the impact of this responsibility. I know I now
have to defend [the design] to the world and make sure that the people
who matter most, the Armenian community, truly love it as their own."
But will they, is the question.
Former Pasadena City Councilman and PAGMC Committee Chair Bill
Paparian, an attorney and the city's first Armenian-American mayor of
Pasadena (1995-97), said Southern California's Armenian community will
appreciate Menard's design.
"I think it's more compelling that [the memorial] was designed by a
non-Armenian," said Paparian. "The Vietnam War Memorial in Washington,
DC, wasn't designed by a Vietnam War vet." In fact, Maya Lin, who
designed the Vietnam War Memorial, was also a student at the time her
design was selected. "We were deeply impressed by Catherine, who
developed and presented an emotionally compelling design for a
historical event that she initially knew nothing about," said Paparian
in a prepared statement. "We hope that this memorial will inspire a
similar emotional connection in those who encounter it, for
generations to come."
Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard noted the cultural significance of the
project. "Having in mind the significant presence and participation of
Armenian Americans in the life of our community, a memorial to the
Genocide is a matter of importance," Bogaard said. "[The design]
strikes me in many ways as an evocative and appropriate memorial for
the Genocide."
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/tears_of_a_nation/11911/
Pasadena Weekly
Feb 28 2013
By Nick Smith 02/28/2013
Earlier this month, the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial Committee
(PAGMC) approved an Art Center College of Design student's concept for
a monument commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide, a human slaughter that started in 1915 and did not end until
1923, after 1.5 million people had been killed.
The concept offered by 26-year-old Catherine Menard was one of 17
reviewed by the committee, many of them submitted by established
architects and designers. Menard came up with the concept as part of
"Designmatters," an Art Center program focusing on humanitarian need
and social change.
"I was attracted to this project because we [designers] don't often
have the opportunity to engage in design work that is so deeply
meaningful to people," said Menard, who is not Armenian, but of French
Cajun descent. She moved with her family to Los Angeles from Louisiana
when she was 4. "I had made a few close Armenian friends at school,"
she said, "so I was especially curious."
"This was an educational experience for all that I feel will have them
viewing their world in a fresh, new perspective, one with compassion,
sensitivity, remembrance and hope for the human condition," said Art
Center Instructor James Meraz of the intensive seven-week course in
which Menard and six other students submitted designs.
An Environmental Design major at Art Center, Menard didn't always know
where her artistic instincts could or would be applied. With a passion
for history, dance, architecture and film, it wasn't until others
encouraged her to pursue it that she really considered environmental
design. "[It] offered endless creative outlets for me," said Menard of
her chosen area of study.
"Every project was a new world," she said of the curriculum's demands.
"It is the most challenging and rewarding work I could have ever
imagined, and has proven to be where I truly belong." After
graduation, Menard plans to attend graduate school to study
architecture and historic preservation.
The concept for the memorial, one of three designs Menard worked on,
"had the strongest effect on the class and me, emotionally. It both
moved me and terrified me," Menard said.
As she described it, the minimalist design is "a death structure that
is weeping over a carved stone basin ... set into the ground." With a
drop of water falling into the basin every three seconds, by April 24,
the memorial's commemoration date, 1.5 million "teardrops" will have
fallen, representing the lives lost in the "Great Crime" committed by
Ottoman Turks during the course of World War I and afterward.
Although normally reserved for memorials commemorating America's wars,
the structure will be placed in Pasadena's Memorial Park, as
determined by the Department of Public Works and City Manager Michael
Beck.
"This [memorial] will serve as a meeting place for multi-generational
families of the community to contemplate such a horrific event," Meraz
said.
Architect Stefanos Polyzoides, consulting architect on the project and
one of three panelists entrusted with choosing the design, told the
Weekly why he was particularly impressed with Menard's concept.
"When you sit in front of projects and you look at them for a while,
some of them stand out. ... [Menard's work] was the most sensitive and
the most imaginative and the most poetic of all the designs in
commemorating the horror of genocide, particularly this one."
It is important to note that Menard's design is a concept for a
memorial not to be completed until 2015. As such, (and given the
politically sensitive nature of the project), those involved are
reluctant to share specifics with the media "until the right time" -
during the approval process by the city of Pasadena.
"It's an 'ideas' competition. You don't have to answer in the kind of
definitive way that you would in front of a public works commission,"
said Polyzoides. While it has been confirmed that a meeting was held
on Thursday, Feb. 14, at City Hall to establish a schedule for the
approval process, final details, including functionality, size,
materials and cost will be determined by Polyzoides and his team,
including Menard, who will not receive compensation for the design,
save for the satisfaction of being a part of something so meaningful.
When asked about what inspired her toward this particular image,
Menard quoted a poem by Siamanto, an Armenian poet among the first to
be killed in the Genocide: "Don't be afraid / I must tell you what I
saw / So people will understand / the crimes men do to men / For two
days, by the road / to the graveyard."
A somber reflection of an ugly chapter in human history, the words are
nonetheless inspiring of something beautiful and emotive to help
people remember the past. When asked how she felt when her design was
selected, Menard said, "I was completely emotional and elated, then
moments later ... felt the impact of this responsibility. I know I now
have to defend [the design] to the world and make sure that the people
who matter most, the Armenian community, truly love it as their own."
But will they, is the question.
Former Pasadena City Councilman and PAGMC Committee Chair Bill
Paparian, an attorney and the city's first Armenian-American mayor of
Pasadena (1995-97), said Southern California's Armenian community will
appreciate Menard's design.
"I think it's more compelling that [the memorial] was designed by a
non-Armenian," said Paparian. "The Vietnam War Memorial in Washington,
DC, wasn't designed by a Vietnam War vet." In fact, Maya Lin, who
designed the Vietnam War Memorial, was also a student at the time her
design was selected. "We were deeply impressed by Catherine, who
developed and presented an emotionally compelling design for a
historical event that she initially knew nothing about," said Paparian
in a prepared statement. "We hope that this memorial will inspire a
similar emotional connection in those who encounter it, for
generations to come."
Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard noted the cultural significance of the
project. "Having in mind the significant presence and participation of
Armenian Americans in the life of our community, a memorial to the
Genocide is a matter of importance," Bogaard said. "[The design]
strikes me in many ways as an evocative and appropriate memorial for
the Genocide."
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/tears_of_a_nation/11911/