Svigals + Partners to design a memorial garden for victims of gun violence

Svigals + Partners, an architecture firm that designed the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, has partnered with a group of concerned mothers in New Haven, Conn. to design a Memorial Garden in honor of victims of gun violence.

The garden will provide a path flanked by engraved stone pavers that include the ages and dates of individuals killed in gun violence incidents in New Haven since 1980. The path will lead past a sculpture, titled Lost Generation, before culminating in a circular plaza with stone seating areas and flowering plants.

"The Lost Generation sculpture serves as a reminder of both the fragility and strength that exists within families and communities,” Says Marissa Mead, RA, LEED AP, Director of Art at Svigals + Partners and the design lead for the memorial. “Figurative voids in the piece illustrate the ever-present sense of absence when loved ones are lost to tragedy, and allude to the idea that death has a compounded influence on both current and future generations.”

Near the center plaza, memory tiles will be engraved with images or memories of lost loved ones. Stepped seating will be available throughout the park and a row of lamp post wind chimes near the park’s entrance will help mask traffic noise from Valley Street. The park may also include a footbridge connection to the nearby West Rock trail project.

Marlene Miller Pratt, a New Haven school teacher whose 18-year-old son was killed in a gun violence incident in 1988, led the efforts to build the memorial garden. The park could be completed and open to the public as early as summer 2019.