NYC AIDS Memorial

The NYC AIDS Memorial, designed by Studio a+i, acts as the gateway into the New York City AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent’s Triangle. The City wanted to remember the more than 100,000 men, women, and children it has lost during the history of the disease. According to the Memorial’s website, it was created to “recognize those we lost and the extraordinarily heroic effort of caregivers and activists who helped change the trajectory of the epidemic.”

The triangular park is an open space cut into New York City’s busy urban layout. The gateway features an 18-foot tall canopy sculpture and engraved granite pavers with more than 8,992 words, some of which include sections from Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself. A central granite water feature creates a serene environment for visitors to enjoy and create a unique visual from the light and shadows cast by the sculpture above. Granite benches allow park visitors a chance to rest and reflect. Immediately past the gateway lays another Delta Fountains’ water feature for the younger park visitors to enjoy.

NYC AIDS Memorial Water Feature

The granite table top water feature is in the center of the Memorial. Delta Fountains teamed up with Studio a+i to design the feature and manufacture the equipment. The water emanates through cut-out patterns along the top of the granite, spreads over the entire top to spill over the sides. The water is collected in a hidden stainless-steel trough below the granite feature. V-shaped cut outs along the outside of the feature were designed to discourage visitors from skate boarding along the edge.