Monument-of-Everyone
| Minquan Wang | China | Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates |
| Xiyao Wang | China | Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates |
Monument of Everyone
Chongqing People’s Square Memory Depository
#possession #identity #zeitgeist #sharingmemory #coexist
Dear Madame,
We are sorry for your loss.
While we share your grief for the passing of your husband, we feel obliged to write in confirmation of his enrollment in the Chongqing Memory Depository project, to which he applied on Aug 21, 2037 with you as his designated fiduciary.
The Depository issues each applicant a container measured 2000x1000x700, as a storage unit of one’s chosen personal belongings. The applicant would curate his selection for what he holds dear, and what he wishes to be remembered with.
Compared to earth burial, we believe this to be a humane alternative to retain the identity of the deceased, and to share his story with the city. The Archive will exhibit the storage units of participants passing during the latest five-year period, with random rotation, on the surface of People’s Square. Your husband’s life will become part of the city’s collective image for everyone to reflect upon.
After the exhibition period, your husband’s storage unit will be delivered to the storage levels underground by his passing date. To revisit his unit in the private memorial space along the Square’s axis, please make a reservation at: www.MonumentOfEveryone.org.
Sincere condolences,
Chongqing Memory Depository
Aug 31, 2044