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University News
Contact: Liam Otten - (314) 935-8494 liam_otten@aismail.wustl.edu School of Architecture hosts all-school Sept. 11 design forum/memorial [St. Louis, MO., 9-10-02] Architects, like the rest of the United States, have endured some painful self-examination since the World Trade Center fell. Could more have been done to avert the tragedy? Can buildings be designed to withstand such attack? And what constitutes a proper memorial to the lives lost? Students and faculty at the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis will have an opportunity to address some of these questions during an afternoon-long, all-school design forum to be held on the anniversary of Sept. 11. The event begins at noon in the school's Kemp Auditorium with a slide show of images depicting examples of memorials and monuments, places of peace and places of grief, by which different cultures have expressed the circumstances of tragedy. At 1 p.m., student leaders will present all 300-some members of the school community with introductions, instructions and 11" x 17" sheets of Bristol board on which to work throughout the afternoon. Then, in groups or individually, participants will prepare visual responses to the circumstances of Sept. 11 in the medium of their choice, working, abstractly or figuratively, in color or black and white, employing words, images or any combination thereof. Those wishing to direct their energies specifically to architecture may address a site-related conceptual project: the design of a memorial marker to be sited at the base of the Gateway Arch. At 5 p.m., an impromptu exhibition of all drawings will be hung in the school's main lobby and a period of open discussion will begin. The exhibition will remain on view for one week. "Immediately after Sept. 11, many of our students made clear their desire to uphold the relevance of art as a means for expressing that which is inexpressible in words, whether you call it shock or horror or grief," said Associate Dean Peter MacKeith. Still, most agreed that time was needed "to gain a sense of perspective and peace." MacKeith added that normal classroom hierarchies will be suspended for the day, with freshman working alongside seniors, undergraduates alongside master's candidates and students alongside faculty and staff. "Everyone is equal, everyone's expression is valid," he explained. "We understand our community as a multifaceted group with different faiths, different nationalities and different backgrounds. We want to make this visible and to underscore its value while searching for the deeper meaning of harmony between peoples." The School of Architecture is located in Givens Hall, at the intersection of Forsyth Boulevard and Hoyt Drive. |
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