Parkland 17 Memorial
2023
Parkland, Florida

In Collaboration with A Gang of Three

The Parkland 17 Memorial is an opportunity to honor, reflect, and pay tribute to those lost in the 2018 shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. It should respect the lives that were, the lives that could have been, and the lives to come — if we as a community act with care, intention and resolve.

Our proposal contains four primary elements: a threshold, a rising landmass that shelters the site, a series of markers that represent those lost and injured, and a memorial grove.

The heart of the memorial is a ring of 34 vertical markers that stand in honor of the victims of that tragic day. Seventeen mirror-polished stainless markers for those lost will be lifted and embraced by a circular berm on the far side of site. The heights of these markers will acknowledge the lives cut short. Seventeen patinated bronze markers representing injured survivors will form the lower part of the ring on the side of the preserve. Among these markers, a grove of live oaks will be planted to represent continuity, safety, strength, community and resilience.

Entering the memorial site will involve passing over an accessible footbridge — a threshold crossing over a newly integrated riparian canal. The memorial grove will become a tranquil island on the edge of the preserve. A reinstituted “river of grass” will work as a gradient and transition between the site and the rest of the preserve, evoking the transformational spirit of natural preservation and restoration embodied by noted conservationist and school namesake, Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Project completed for Parkland Memorial Competition.