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ART CENTER COLLEGE OF DESIGN STUDENT WINS PASADENA ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MEMORIAL COMPETITION
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition
GlobeNewswire Tuesday, January 29th 2013
PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today Art Center
College of Design and the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial
Committee (PASAGMC) jointly announced the winning design concept
for a new memorial whose planned dedication in 2015 will coincide
with 100th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide. The
concept by Art Center Environmental Design student Catherine Menard
was developed in 2012 as part of the College's social impact design
program, Designmatters. The proposed site for the public artwork is
Memorial Park in the City of Pasadena.
Menard's concept was one of 17 submissions the committee received,
and one of three finalists chosen by an independent panel of judges
in December. The three-judge panel included Stefanos Polyzoides,
a principal of Moule & Polyzoides, Architects and Urbanists; Ruben
Amirian, an architect/artist who has served on the design review
board and historic commission in Glendale; and Neshan Peroomian,
a contractor and prominent Armenian-American community leader.
In all, six Environmental Design students at Art Center developed
memorial proposals last fall during an intensive Design Topic Studio
class and submitted them to the competition. Two of the students-Menard
and her classmate J.D. Clark-were selected as finalists, a particularly
impressive achievement in a field of competitors that included many
seasoned professionals.
Earlier this month, Board members of PASAGMC voted unanimously to
move forward with Menard's proposal.
"This was a competitive process, and we considered a number of very
fine proposals," says Committee Chair William M. Paparian, Esq., an
attorney and former Mayor of Pasadena. "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."
"With tremendous pride, we congratulate Catherine Menard on her
creative and inspiring memorial design that will have profound and
lasting impact in the community," says Art Center President Lorne M.
Buchman. "The extraordinary talent and commitment of our students and
faculty continue to find meaningful expression locally and globally
through a remarkable range of social impact projects."
Greater Los Angeles is home to the largest population of Armenians
in the United States, many descended from families persecuted and
killed between 1915 and 1921.
Menard, 26, is a seventh-term Environmental Design major at Art
Center and expects to graduate this year. Of French Cajun heritage,
she was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and moved with her family to
Los Angeles at age four. She currently resides in Pasadena.
"I'm a Southern California girl with a Southern heart," she says with
a smile.
Initially invited to join the project by Environmental Design Associate
Professor James Meraz, Menard came into it with little knowledge
of Armenian history. "But I have always felt drawn to history and
heritage," she says, "drawn to anything with any semblance of meaning."
Menard immersed herself in accounts of the Armenian Genocide as well
as the recent history of memorial art, including the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, designed by Maya Lin who, like Menard,
was a student at the time she won the competition.
"It all started to permeate my mind and my heart," says Menard. "At
first I felt unworthy-who am I to respond to such loss? 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."
The central feature of Menard's minimalist 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.
Over the course of one year, 1.5 million tears will fall into the pool,
the estimated number of victims of the Armenian Genocide.
"It was an honor to lead this most extraordinary challenge," says
Meraz. "In just seven weeks-half the time of our typical studio-our
students worked passionately to design a memorial that has the power to
provoke an emotional and contemplative response to a horrific event. In
turn, this educational experience has given them new perspective, with
compassion, sensitivity, remembrance and hope for the human condition."
Polyzoides, one of the competition jurors, will work with Menard to
bring her concept to fruition. An associate professor of architecture
emeritus at the University of Southern California, he is an architect,
urbanist and partner of Moule & Polyzoides, a Pasadena practice that
has completed many distinguished projects locally, in other parts of
the U.S. and abroad.
"All of the Art Center student submissions were extremely well done
and stood out for their seriousness. But Catherine's design struck
the perfect balance between abstract and representational," says
Polyzoides. "It's very beautiful, very poetic, and I want to make
sure that it's as well constructed as it was conceived."
Although he was the only non-Armenian juror, Polyzoides has many
Armenian friends and the history of the Armenian Genocide has personal
resonance for him. "My grandparents were from Istanbul and I grew
up in Greece," he recalls. "For as long as I can remember, I heard
about the actions taken by the Ottoman Turkish government against
the Armenian minority. It was devastating."
Details regarding the project's budget and construction will be
developed over the next several months, with official groundbreaking
anticipated in 2014 and dedication of the completed memorial on April
24, 2015.
Read more:
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition?page=0,1#ixzz2JOYgdcmb
Read more at
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition?page=0,1#C27r1ELY3F3Zjxuo.99
Read more:
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition#ixzz2JOYWC7dA
Read more at
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition#4gJXRkKE8T8iBE6o.99
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition
GlobeNewswire Tuesday, January 29th 2013
PASADENA, Calif., Jan. 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today Art Center
College of Design and the Pasadena Armenian Genocide Memorial
Committee (PASAGMC) jointly announced the winning design concept
for a new memorial whose planned dedication in 2015 will coincide
with 100th anniversary commemorations of the Armenian Genocide. The
concept by Art Center Environmental Design student Catherine Menard
was developed in 2012 as part of the College's social impact design
program, Designmatters. The proposed site for the public artwork is
Memorial Park in the City of Pasadena.
Menard's concept was one of 17 submissions the committee received,
and one of three finalists chosen by an independent panel of judges
in December. The three-judge panel included Stefanos Polyzoides,
a principal of Moule & Polyzoides, Architects and Urbanists; Ruben
Amirian, an architect/artist who has served on the design review
board and historic commission in Glendale; and Neshan Peroomian,
a contractor and prominent Armenian-American community leader.
In all, six Environmental Design students at Art Center developed
memorial proposals last fall during an intensive Design Topic Studio
class and submitted them to the competition. Two of the students-Menard
and her classmate J.D. Clark-were selected as finalists, a particularly
impressive achievement in a field of competitors that included many
seasoned professionals.
Earlier this month, Board members of PASAGMC voted unanimously to
move forward with Menard's proposal.
"This was a competitive process, and we considered a number of very
fine proposals," says Committee Chair William M. Paparian, Esq., an
attorney and former Mayor of Pasadena. "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."
"With tremendous pride, we congratulate Catherine Menard on her
creative and inspiring memorial design that will have profound and
lasting impact in the community," says Art Center President Lorne M.
Buchman. "The extraordinary talent and commitment of our students and
faculty continue to find meaningful expression locally and globally
through a remarkable range of social impact projects."
Greater Los Angeles is home to the largest population of Armenians
in the United States, many descended from families persecuted and
killed between 1915 and 1921.
Menard, 26, is a seventh-term Environmental Design major at Art
Center and expects to graduate this year. Of French Cajun heritage,
she was born in Lafayette, Louisiana, and moved with her family to
Los Angeles at age four. She currently resides in Pasadena.
"I'm a Southern California girl with a Southern heart," she says with
a smile.
Initially invited to join the project by Environmental Design Associate
Professor James Meraz, Menard came into it with little knowledge
of Armenian history. "But I have always felt drawn to history and
heritage," she says, "drawn to anything with any semblance of meaning."
Menard immersed herself in accounts of the Armenian Genocide as well
as the recent history of memorial art, including the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, designed by Maya Lin who, like Menard,
was a student at the time she won the competition.
"It all started to permeate my mind and my heart," says Menard. "At
first I felt unworthy-who am I to respond to such loss? 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."
The central feature of Menard's minimalist 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.
Over the course of one year, 1.5 million tears will fall into the pool,
the estimated number of victims of the Armenian Genocide.
"It was an honor to lead this most extraordinary challenge," says
Meraz. "In just seven weeks-half the time of our typical studio-our
students worked passionately to design a memorial that has the power to
provoke an emotional and contemplative response to a horrific event. In
turn, this educational experience has given them new perspective, with
compassion, sensitivity, remembrance and hope for the human condition."
Polyzoides, one of the competition jurors, will work with Menard to
bring her concept to fruition. An associate professor of architecture
emeritus at the University of Southern California, he is an architect,
urbanist and partner of Moule & Polyzoides, a Pasadena practice that
has completed many distinguished projects locally, in other parts of
the U.S. and abroad.
"All of the Art Center student submissions were extremely well done
and stood out for their seriousness. But Catherine's design struck
the perfect balance between abstract and representational," says
Polyzoides. "It's very beautiful, very poetic, and I want to make
sure that it's as well constructed as it was conceived."
Although he was the only non-Armenian juror, Polyzoides has many
Armenian friends and the history of the Armenian Genocide has personal
resonance for him. "My grandparents were from Istanbul and I grew
up in Greece," he recalls. "For as long as I can remember, I heard
about the actions taken by the Ottoman Turkish government against
the Armenian minority. It was devastating."
Details regarding the project's budget and construction will be
developed over the next several months, with official groundbreaking
anticipated in 2014 and dedication of the completed memorial on April
24, 2015.
Read more:
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition?page=0,1#ixzz2JOYgdcmb
Read more at
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition?page=0,1#C27r1ELY3F3Zjxuo.99
Read more:
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition#ixzz2JOYWC7dA
Read more at
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2013/01/29/art-center-college-design-student-wins-pasadena-armenian-genocide-memorial-competition#4gJXRkKE8T8iBE6o.99