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Pasadena Sun (California)
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
January 29, 2013 Tuesday
'Emotionally compelling' teardrop concept chosen for Armenian genocide
memorial in Pasadena
by: Jason Wells, Pasadena Sun, Calif.
Jan. 29--The winning design for a public memorial in Pasadena
commemorating the Armenian genocide was announced Tuesday.
The design by Catherine Menard -- a student at the Art Center College
of Design, which hosted the competition with the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee -- was praised as an "an emotionally
compelling design" that would serve to "inspire a similar emotional
connection in those who encounter it, for generations to come,"
according to an announcement issued Tuesday.
The central feature of Menard's design a carved-stone basin of water
straddled by a tripod arrangement of three columns leaning into one
another is a single drop of water that falls from the highest point
every three seconds, each "teardrop" representing one life lost,
according to the college.
A rendering of the winning design was not immediately available.
Over the course of one year, 1.5 million "tears" will fall into the
pool, representing the estimated number of people who died during the
Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1918, which occurred under the Ottoman
Empire, or what is now the modern republic of Turkey.
The Turkish government has disputed that a genocide took place,
claiming the victims were killed in the chaos of World War I.
The project is slated for Memorial Park in Pasadena and is expected to
be completed in time for April 24, 2015 -- the 100th anniversary for
commemorations of the genocide.
Menard -- a 26-year-old of French Cajun heritage who is majoring in
environmental design at the college -- had to first immerse herself in
the brutal history of the Armenian people to come up with concept.
In a statement, Menard said the research process was engrossing and
inspirational.
"At first I felt unworthy who am I to respond to such loss?" she said.
"But art lends itself to the deepest, darkest parts of human
experience. It can create sympathy, empathy, understanding. I wanted
to pair this horror with something uplifting and beautiful, to create
a way to remember.
"I developed three different ideas and settled on the one that I felt
most terrified and most moved by."
According to the organizers, the decision was unanimous.
"This was a competitive process, and we considered a number of very
fine proposals," committee Chairman William M. Paparian, an attorney
and former mayor of Pasadena, said in a statement. "But our final
decision was unanimous. We were deeply impressed by Catherine, who
developed and presented an emotionally compelling design for a
historical event that she initially knew nothing about.
"We hope that this memorial will inspire a similar emotional
connection in those who encounter it, for generations to come."
Menard's concept was one of 17 submissions the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee received.
In December, the three finalists were chosen by an independent panel
of judges Stefanos Polyzoides, a principal of Moule & Polyzoides,
Architects and Urbanists; architect Ruben Amirian, who has served on
the Design Review Board and Historic Preservation Commission in
Glendale; and Neshan Peroomian, a contractor and Armenian-American
community leader, according to the college.
A budget and construction timeline for the memorial is expected to be
developed over the next several months, according to the announcement.
Jason Wells, Times Community News
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
January 29, 2013 Tuesday
'Emotionally compelling' teardrop concept chosen for Armenian genocide
memorial in Pasadena
by: Jason Wells, Pasadena Sun, Calif.
Jan. 29--The winning design for a public memorial in Pasadena
commemorating the Armenian genocide was announced Tuesday.
The design by Catherine Menard -- a student at the Art Center College
of Design, which hosted the competition with the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee -- was praised as an "an emotionally
compelling design" that would serve to "inspire a similar emotional
connection in those who encounter it, for generations to come,"
according to an announcement issued Tuesday.
The central feature of Menard's design a carved-stone basin of water
straddled by a tripod arrangement of three columns leaning into one
another is a single drop of water that falls from the highest point
every three seconds, each "teardrop" representing one life lost,
according to the college.
A rendering of the winning design was not immediately available.
Over the course of one year, 1.5 million "tears" will fall into the
pool, representing the estimated number of people who died during the
Armenian genocide of 1915 to 1918, which occurred under the Ottoman
Empire, or what is now the modern republic of Turkey.
The Turkish government has disputed that a genocide took place,
claiming the victims were killed in the chaos of World War I.
The project is slated for Memorial Park in Pasadena and is expected to
be completed in time for April 24, 2015 -- the 100th anniversary for
commemorations of the genocide.
Menard -- a 26-year-old of French Cajun heritage who is majoring in
environmental design at the college -- had to first immerse herself in
the brutal history of the Armenian people to come up with concept.
In a statement, Menard said the research process was engrossing and
inspirational.
"At first I felt unworthy who am I to respond to such loss?" she said.
"But art lends itself to the deepest, darkest parts of human
experience. It can create sympathy, empathy, understanding. I wanted
to pair this horror with something uplifting and beautiful, to create
a way to remember.
"I developed three different ideas and settled on the one that I felt
most terrified and most moved by."
According to the organizers, the decision was unanimous.
"This was a competitive process, and we considered a number of very
fine proposals," committee Chairman William M. Paparian, an attorney
and former mayor of Pasadena, said in a statement. "But our final
decision was unanimous. We were deeply impressed by Catherine, who
developed and presented an emotionally compelling design for a
historical event that she initially knew nothing about.
"We hope that this memorial will inspire a similar emotional
connection in those who encounter it, for generations to come."
Menard's concept was one of 17 submissions the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee received.
In December, the three finalists were chosen by an independent panel
of judges Stefanos Polyzoides, a principal of Moule & Polyzoides,
Architects and Urbanists; architect Ruben Amirian, who has served on
the Design Review Board and Historic Preservation Commission in
Glendale; and Neshan Peroomian, a contractor and Armenian-American
community leader, according to the college.
A budget and construction timeline for the memorial is expected to be
developed over the next several months, according to the announcement.
Jason Wells, Times Community News
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress