Hart Island Hope Memorial
Covid-19, ravaging New York City saw a death toll increase from 24 people buried on the island per week, to 24 people per day. Often without families to pay for funerals and a proper burial, these residents once of New York, are shipped in white, nailed boxes and coffins and buried in mass graves, often containing up to 140 bodies at a time. Because of this, an ethical and question of sustainability comes into account.
The scheme for a hope memorial on the island implements a ritualised procession, using cremation and new burial methods as a technique of architecturally responding to the rapid influx of deceased from Covid-19. The Mausoleum forms the foundations of a soundscape experience, the last opportunity for those interred to have a ‘voice’ and their memory be engrained as an architectural experience. The concept of the ‘keepsake’ is a prominent concept in the design of the mausoleum. The ashes of those interred, will be combined with resin to form the mallet for a set of singing bowls, embedded within the ground experience of the building. The name of the person being memorialised will be engraved into the base of the mallet and inserted into a rammed earth wall with holes in it, becoming an evolving memorial and grave space for those who lost their lives to Covid-19. If someone is recognised by family after cremation, the mallet can be removed from the wall and taken away as a ‘keepsake’, eventually creating openings in the wall. As an open space, the mausoleum is exposed to the elements, similar to the experience those interred would’ve felt as abandoned victims of communism. The mirror, as a central component of the space is angled to discreetly separate the singing bowl and keepsake spaces, but also reflects the views of Manhattan and Queens, acting as a reminder of where those interred came from.
If someone’s culture permits one from being cremated, burial mounds are implemented on the island as a means of saving space from burial. As a modular reinforced concrete structure, it can evolve and grow as more are buried on the island. Due to the materiality, the reinforced concrete mounds prevent the effects of erosion of the burial sites, another environmental issue Hart Island faces.
Connected by a winding path for pedestrians, and a tunnel for machinery, the mortuary is an underground structure, beneath two monolithic towers reminiscent of missiles, paying tribute to the Nike Missile base on the island. The concrete form acts as a thermal mass, retaining heat to the basement areas during winter. Open at the top, they allow for passive daylighting as an atrium space, as well as cooling towers during the summer. The overall spatial planning allows for access to each section of the building creating an effortless flow between the workshop spaces, clinical burial prep spaces and staff offices. Geometric incisions in the ground allow shards of light through to the circulation spaces below, reminds the users of the space of travelling through the city of New York, specifically the underpasses and subway.
The machine, with a form suggestive of the Statue of Liberty’s crown has a façade constructed of Aluminium shingles, angled to store the large amount of water received form rainfall on the island per year. The water is collected and stored in a tank underground for use in the mortuary, as a way of recycling it.
Overall, the integration of the programme, combined with landscaping structures enhance the overall experience on the island, as a way of memorialising those interred on the island, while sustaining the island’s future and heritage.
