American Veterans Disabled For Life Memorial

[pinboy3niner]

4. Excellent review today by WaPo Art and Architecture Critic Philip Kennicott:

American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial has impact larger than its size
By Philip Kennicott October 5 at 7:24 PM

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As Washington continues to build memorials, while struggling (not always successfully) to preserve the Mall as “a substantially completed work of civic art,” there will only be more of this quirky Washington subspecies of the form: Monuments in Awkward Spaces. Yet that is a good thing. Better to fill in and enliven forlorn corners of the city than pave over its green spaces with gargantuan new memorials vainly competing with the established favorites.

So the new memorial earns its highest marks for being neighborly. And as you explore it, its embodiment of good citizenship grows deeper. Many of those who visit will have impaired mobility, and the memorial is attentive to that in ways that might not be immediately obvious to the able-bodied. The star-shaped fountain and triangular reflecting pool are set low to the ground so that they can be easily surveyed by someone sitting in a wheelchair; there are a great number of benches, strategically placed in front of glass text panels and with unobtrusive metal bars to help people who need assistance sitting or standing up; and the curb cuts for wheelchair ramps have straight rather than flaring edges, which helps people with visual limitations. Limited parking is available, and there is a generous drop-off lane for buses.

But what of the memorial itself, its architectural and design impact? A flame fueled by bubbles of gas rising through water in the fountain is the most powerful visual icon, mixing myriad elemental metaphors: the healing, cleansing and forgetfulness of water with the enlightenment, tempering power and sense of the eternal signified by fire. If the star shape of the fountain feels reflexive and cliched, the visual seduction of fire dancing on a calm pool of water is mesmerizing. The effort to use trees and a hedge on the south side to block one of the uglier patches of the city is also a welcome gesture. Thankfully, the memorial hasn’t been overwhelmed by a clutter of individual names, which would swamp the plaza in particularity and diminish its collective appeal.

But mostly, what is good about this memorial (from a purely aesthetic point of view) is in the details: the quality of the engraving, the angles inscribed in the paving stones, the lighting of the glass panels. There isn’t any grand architectural statement. But that isn’t to damn with faint praise. This is a small memorial, and as memorials tend to become smaller — honoring smaller subsets of the population — they will by necessity become smaller in their aesthetic aims.

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If anyone is inclined to think that disabled veterans deserved a larger, more spectacular memorial, consider this: In an age of perpetual war and cultural bellicosity, the pacifist sentiments lurking in this new memorial could survive only on the edges of our national conversation.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/american-veterans-disabled-for-life-memorial-has-impact-larger-than-its-size/2014/10/05/492d6c2a-4b21-11e4-891d-713f052086a0_story.html