Sichuan Memorial

The Schmidt Design Group, Inc. submitted this design for an open competition to create a memorial for the 68,000 victims of the 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China. The design concept was a diagonal path representing the fault line, offset by a canyon visitors enter by a circular walkway of rows of layered terraces. In the terraces were stones, each representing one of the victims, depicting the sheer size of the natural disaster. At the bottom of the canyon was a peaceful fountain for contemplation and rejuvenation. The fountain’s base depicted positive poetry as a tribute to the victims. A grove of trees also mathematically represented the vast number of those lost.