San Francisco Veterans Memorial Design

[Animo]

A reflecting pool is at the heart of one of the design finalists. A bronze folded flag, representing the ones given to families of fallen veterans, is elevated above the pool.



The "Wreath of Remem- brance" would feature an illuminated halo of military dog tags suspended above the ground by guide wires. The tags would move with the wind, creating a chiming sound.



The "Passages of Remembrance" would be an octagonal stone monument including soil from battlefields on which Americans died. An Archibald MacLeish poem would be incorporated.

Three proposals were unveiled Tuesday for a monument at the San Francisco Civic Center honoring the men and women who served in the armed forces.

Two of the three proposals are fairly conventional. One features a reflecting pool with a folded bronze flag, and another is an octagonal stone monument containing soil from battlefields where Americans lost their lives.

A third is startlingly different. The centerpiece is a wreath made of material that resembles military dog tags, suspended above buried battlefield soil like a halo.

The memorial, financed by private funds, would be placed between the War Memorial Opera House and the Veterans Building, just across Van Ness Avenue from City Hall. So far, more than $1.7 million has been raised.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1OhNny9a3

[Animo]

If I were to decide I will go with the "Wreath of Remem- brance". I think this one would be a better and unique.

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Project Proposal: Norman Lee, Scott Slaney & Ricardo Supiciche

San Francisco Veterans Memorial - Norman Lee + SWA Group

Wreath of Remembrance





Our memorial concept is inspired by the transcendent form and symbolism of a wreath. For many cultures, wreaths represent notions of eternity, continuity, and memory. Within military history, wreaths carry special layers of meaning: victory, bravery, peace. In the military tradition of wreath-laying ceremonies, this reverent gesture marks sacred ground. A suspended wreath eternally embodies this ritual of remembrance.

In this landmark tribute to our nation's veterans, a sculptural wreath of military dog tags hovers above the Memorial Court. Not touching the landscape below, the suspended wreath creates a powerful gesture that marks the sacred ground containing the interred soils from battlefields across the world. The wreath defines a powerful place for contemplation and memory through archetypal symbolism and pure sculptural form. The gilded representation of dog tags transforms these functional objects into resonant icons, which echo the architectural elements of City Hall and the Memorial Court gates.

Shifting between figuration and abstraction, the dog tags that compose the wreath are simultaneously experienced separately and as a group. This duality honors both individual and collective sacrifice within American military tradition. Individually, the dog tags powerfully personalize our nation's veterans throughout history, bridging the past and the present. As a unity, the dog tags coalesce into a poignant constellation of remembrance. The ring-shaped form of the wreath embodies continuity, collapsing time and space to connect current service members with those who have served before.





The wreath is illuminated from a circular plaza of granite below, which preserves the original octagon of Thomas Church's design as the articulated centerpiece. The memorial's dedication encircles the outer edge of the plaza. Within this circle, the plaza is perforated by individual points of illumination, creating an annular pattern of light that corresponds to the shape of the wreath. At the center lies an embedded steel capsule, a resting space for the interred soils, interpreted with glass text. The octagon's granite surface is awash in a thin membrane of water at various times of the day, synchronized to the rising and falling sea level of nearby San Francisco Bay. This perpetual tidal process creates a dynamic, reflective surface that evokes healing and regeneration.







As visitors approach the memorial from the west, the suspended wreath forms a visual and conceptual nexus unifying the Memorial Court, Veterans Building, Opera House, and City Hall. Seen from a distance, it creates a dialogue between old and new. The use of suspension respects Church's original landscape design and the historic architecture of the site. The wreath's suspension cables are anchored near the Veterans Building and the Opera House, bringing the two symbolic buildings into the memorial expression, and creating a visual metaphor for the institutional forces that historically unified to create the memorial itself.

The Veterans Memorial gives light and wind a tangible presence, interlacing monumentality and evanescence. Responding to varying environmental conditions, the dog tags move with the wind and reflect the changing light of the day. The sounds created by the moving dog tags become echoes of remembrance that reverberate throughout the Memorial Court. These poetic chimes continually remind us of the heroic sacrifices made by the servicemen and women of our armed forces from the nation's past and present. At night, the constellation of dog tags seems to float within an inspiring column of light. Thousands of individual luminous beams emanate from the granite plaza, illuminating each dog tag and dramatically linking the suspended wreath to the sacred ground below.

[Animo]

Project Proposal: Larry Kirkland & J. Douglass Macy



PROJECT STATEMENT

The proposed design for the San Francisco Veterans Memorial is carefully conceived to respect the Beaux-Arts grandeur of the site as well as the original memorial designed by Thomas Church. The proposed memorial is intimate in scale, inviting human touch and participation and providing an important counterpoint to the monumental character of the adjacent architecture. Within the heroic civic space, the individual is honored by this modest, human-scaled memorial.



The memorial is sited adjacent to the existing Thomas Church octagon. Improvements include granite curbs and inscriptions, to invite visitors into the space from the street and activate the Court. The focal point of the new memorial is a folded flag cast in bronze, elevated above a calm reflecting pool. The flag resonates with memorial traditions from all branches of service, throughout the nation's history, and is intended to invite human touch and participation. The artwork and water feature use white honed granite to reflect the Civic Center materials, while offering a uniquely intimate experience to the Court.



Memorial Inscriptions:

“...let us solemnly remember the sacrifices of all those who fought so valiantly, on the seas, in the air, and on foreign shores, to preserve our heritage of freedom, and let us reconsecrate ourselves to the task of promoting an enduring peace so that their efforts shall not have been in vain.”
-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1954 Veterans Day Proclamation

“The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation.”
- President George Washington

Entry view into Memorial Court – Inscriptions:



The San Francisco Veterans Memorial

The Sacred Ground within the Octagon is earth collected from battlefields throughout the world where United States Armed Forces fought and sacrificed

The bronze folded American Flag rests on a plinth containing earth collected from Veterans Cemeteries to honor sacrifice of all individuals through all generations who have served their country



View towards City Hall over the existing Thomas Church octagon - Inscriptions: Duty, Honor, Country

Bronze Flag (Caption)

The folded flag is a symbol of honor and respect that resonates with veterans of all branches of military service, representing America’s gratitude for the sacrifices of those who served.

[Animo]

Project Proposal: Susan Narduli & Andrea Cochran

This project begins with the earth of foreign battlefields and with memory.

For half a century, the octagonal lawn in Memorial Court has served as a little-known repository of earth from lands where Americans fought and died. On this same site, an octagon of faceted planes of stone will hold that earth and bear witness to the sacrifice of those men and women.

This memorial is a moment within a process. We don't know what our military will face in the future and what will be expected of us as a nation. The octagon is designed to receive newly consecrated earth. The soil itself, veiled from sight behind the polished stone, will settle into our own American earth, as the memory of battle filters into our communal understanding.

At the entrance to the Memorial, a dedication is inscribed in the stone:

Within this octagon of stone, remembered earth from battlefields where Americans fought and died. Here, we bear witness to their sacrifice. The people of San Francisco dedicate this memorial to our nation's veterans in honor of their service. 11 November 2013

You enter the memorial on a suspended woven metal path that wraps the octagon. At the first of two pools that circumscribe the octagon, the path begins its gentle slope downward into the earth, a departure from the workaday bustle of the Civic Center. This is a place for silence.

The slope establishes the form of the memorial, sheltered from the surrounding urban activities but open, fully visible from the pedestrian concourse. Soon, a passage cut through the octagon is revealed, a departure from the civilian world. Here the consecrated earth is held.


MEMORIAL COURT LANDSCAPE

The landscape extends the influence of the memorial into the larger civic space. The Central Lawn gently slopes towards the memorial, a subtle shift in elevation that re-focuses one's attention towards it. In keeping with the historic Beaux Arts architecture and the spatial relationships of Thomas Church's design, the central lawn is left open, defined by perimeter trees and hedges. But this edge is re-imagined as a cut in the earth, with rammed earth seat walls that express a tactile sense of the consecrated earth in the memorial.The walls provide much needed seating for daily use and quiet contemplation. Removing the western hedge creates an inviting gesture toward the Memorial and a longer view to City Hall.

MEMORIAL COURT LIGHTING DESIGN

The lighting design preserves the original historic fixtures that light the walk along the perimeter of Memorial Court. Recessed lights at the sides of the Central Lawn bring low level illumination to the area. At the Memorial, lighting at the Reflection Pools highlight the water as it ripples over the planes of stone. The Passage of Remembrance is lit from below. Washing over the inclined stone, the line of light will be clearly visible from both the Civic Center and the garden.

REFLECTION POOLS

The Reflection Pools circumscribe the octagon, maintaining the symbolism of the Thomas Church design. But here, the concrete circle becomes a flowing plane of water sloping from street level to the garden. The water is a symbol of the spilt blood of the consecrated earth within the memorial. But in the Reflection Pools, the water's surface washing over the polished stone will capture the everchanging sky, a metaphor for hope and transformation.

PASSAGE OF REMEMBRANCE

The walkway through the memorial floats above the sloping planes of the Reflection Pools. Made of open weave metal mesh, you are made aware of the water beneath you as it flows from the upper pool to the lower pool through the Passage of Remembrance. The footsteps of those that pass will echo slightly, as their sound is reflected by the stone below.

As you arrive at the Passage of Remembrance, the rough basalt planes of the octagon transition to a high polish. These walls capture reflections as one walks through. Here, behind removable panels of polished stone, the consecrated earth from battlefields where Americans fought and died is held.

On the west wall, a poem by World War 1 veteran, Archibald MacLeish. The east wall is blank, save a thin reveal cut in the stone for placing remembrances.

POEM INSCRIBED ON PASSAGE WALL:

THE YOUNG DEAD SOLDIERS DO NOT SPEAK

Nevertheless they are heard in the still houses: who has not heard them?

They have a silence that speaks for them at night and when the clock counts.

They say, We were young. We have died. Remember us.

They say, We have done what we could but until it is finished it is not done.

They say, We have given our lives but until it is finished no one can know what our lives gave.

They say, Our deaths are not ours: they are yours: they will mean what you make them.

They say, Whether our lives and our deaths were for peace and a new hope or for nothing we cannot say: it is you who must say this.

They say, We leave you our deaths: give them their meaning: give them an end to the war and a true peace: give them a victory that ends the war and a peace afterwards: give them their meaning.

We were young, they say. We have died. Remember us.

by Archibald MacLeish

Proposal model photos: http://www.sfveteransmemorial.org/SF...liCochran.html

[mexmatt]

Originally Posted by Animo

A reflecting pool is at the heart of one of the design finalists. A bronze folded flag, representing the ones given to families of fallen veterans, is elevated above the pool.



The "Wreath of Remem- brance" would feature an illuminated halo of military dog tags suspended above the ground by guide wires. The tags would move with the wind, creating a chiming sound.



The "Passages of Remembrance" would be an octagonal stone monument including soil from battlefields on which Americans died. An Archibald MacLeish poem would be incorporated.

I like the idea of soil from battlefields (+ the MacLeish quote) the best. I realize that the dogtag idea sounds dramatic and would also probably elicit an emotional response, but in the end I suspect that it would present maintenance problems. By that, I mean that parts of the sculpture could end up becoming separated from the rest. Also, there's something that strikes me as being slightly macabre about having those suspended dog tags, even if they're just stylized and didn't belong to real soldiers. And I think that cities are noisy enough as it is, without more wind chimes added to the mix.

[Animo]

You've also correct about the noise pollution and possible stability of it (i.e. maintenance). I still like it because it looks unique and interesting.

What about other people's opinion?

[ElDudarinodotcom]

I like the Wreath of Remembrance best. Depending on what materials they use I really don't think it will be that noisy, and as far as maintenance, all they really have to do is replace tags that break/fall off. They can't be that expensive.

[Animo]

A design involving three reflection pools surrounded by an octagon of stone has been chosen for a veterans memorial in San Francisco's Civic Center.

The design "Passage of Remembrance," by designers Susan Narduli and Andrea Cochran, was approved Thursday by the War Memorial Board of Trustees, according to Elizabeth Murray, managing director of the War Memorial complex.

It was one of three finalists that were chosen in November in a national design competition and displayed to the public last month in the Veterans Building's main lobby.

The memorial, which when seen from above will form a circle of water flowing over polished stone, will be built in the Memorial Court between the War Memorial Opera House and Veterans Building.

An open metal walkway over the water will be anchored by reflective basalt walls, one of which will be inscribed with a poem by World War I veteran Archibald MacLeish entitled "The Young Dead Soldiers Do Not Speak."

"As I worked on this project, I thought a lot about those who, like my father, passed through San Francisco on their way to combat overseas and how for many of them, this was the last American land they saw," Narduli said. "Andrea and I have worked to respect this important civic space."

The original 1920s plans for the War Memorial complex called for a veterans memorial in the Memorial Court, but those plans were never completed. The court contains soils from battlefields around the world where Americans have fought.

The Veterans Memorial Steering Committee is co-chaired by former Secretary of State George P. Shultz and former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry. The committee has raised nearly $1.8 million toward the $2.5 million project, Murray said. The funds will include a $500,000 endowment for ongoing maintenance.

Project organizers had tentatively hoped to formally dedicate the memorial on Nov. 11, 2012, but have recently learned they will need to go through an environmental review process, Murray said. To allow time for the review, the dedication is now tentatively set for Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2013.

For more information about the project, visit www.sfveteransmemorial.org.

Sara Gaiser, Bay City News

[Cal_Escapee]

- I live near there and actually use that space for quiet walks right now.

- I'm actually a veteran of 26 years military service so I take it personally.

- The wreath is an interesting idea, but I don't like the wires necessary to suspend it--makes me think it's a monument to Muni trolleys. And I'd rather not have the noise.

- For that reason, I'm going with one of the other ideas--something QUIET. I like the reflecting pool (it has places to sit and I always go for water features).

- In San Francisco, the real question is will the homeless discover it and wreck it. That little area has so far been remarkably free of that issue. I don't know why--maybe the people from the Opera chase them away. If it has a higher profile, though, that could be a problem. As a veteran, I'd like to be able to continue to enjoy it the way I have for 30 years.

[Cal_Escapee]

Originally Posted by Animo

A design involving three reflection pools surrounded by an octagon of stone has been chosen for a veterans memorial in San Francisco's Civic Center.

OK. I'm good with that.

[desertpunk]

The wreath would have looked great but the wires would indeed have been problematic. The "Passages of Remembrance" is like warmed-over Maya Lin with a water feature. Blah.