Rodney Glick and CODA Design
DAM + AGE
AIDS Memorial, 2001
Mixed media, water, plantings
30m square
The AIDS Memorial is a personal and contemplative memorial space that recalls the many people affected by HIV AIDS as well as the indivisibility between life and all the earthly elements. This was the first memorial to be built in Australia commemorating AIDS sufferers, their families, and the medical research community. Embedded into the parkland surrounds, the remembrance is private and meditative rather than a grand gesticulation. A dam of compacted earth and rocks hugs a curved remembrance brick wall imparting the visitor with a feeling of safety and containment. A large pool of still water is held within the dam giving an infinite reflection of the sky. A crop of grasses surrounds the dam offering a graceful transition to the parks lawn and provides a natural shield for the memorial. A regenerative aspect to the memorial is provided by the yearly cycle of the crop of grasses. Text commemorating the community of scientists, educators, activists and heath professionals whose work has contributed to the well being of those with HIV/AIDS, as well as the friends and family of those infected by the disease is strategically inserted into the curved brick wall.