Memorial Design

This past fall (2020), in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the events that took place at Kent State University on May 4th, 1970, all Undergraduate Architecture students and first-year Interior Design and Architectural Studies students took on the challenge to revisit the design competition brief calling for a memorial of the events that took place inside the campus fifty years ago. Students, guided by their studio instructors, worked during the last two weeks of the semester to research, reflect, and propose a new memorial in light of the current events and social issues taking place around our country and the world. Students first examined the May 4 Memorial's current site and were asked how it could be enhanced to have an even greater impact. The words "inquire, learn, reflect" are carved into the current memorial. Part of the project brief asked students to identify three additional words to guide their design in response to today's civil unrest and how the anniversary of the 1970 events connects to our current community and climate. The design challenge's goal was to highlight the events of May 4th, 1970, and to acknowledged and remind us to imagine and pursue a better future.