Memorial to the Victims of Violence
2013
Mexico City, Mexico

Lighting design of urban landmark in the heart of Mexico City.The lighting of the project was honoured with 4 lighting design awards, including the Award of Excellence by the International Association of Lighting Designers in 2014.

Architect: Gaeta Springall Arquitectos
Photography: Gaeta Springall Arquitectos
In collaboration with lighteam, Mexico

The Memorial to the Victims of Violence is a space that was created to reconcile political and social turmoil that rises from the ongoing context of violence in Mexico. It iscomposed of a series of steel plates, some weathered and some reflecting, placed on a water mirror. Light helps articulate these architectural elements as an allegory ofthat which is now absent in materiality but forever present in both our individual and collective memory.

Recessed linear LEDs were placed to suggest a promenade, guiding visitors, serving as a safety measure and spatial orientation. Working with the architectural concept, the promenade is also marked with light in crescendo, from less light to a cathartic point of luminosity, and lastly in diminuendo.

Light takes abstract values of silence to bring a pacifying effect of solace to the site. Shedding light as means of invocation‐evocation renders an ambiance for contemplation and remembrance. Under this light, the materials engage in a dialogue with the visitor: The rust on the weathered plates speak about the passage of time and the scars that we bear from our past; the lit elements reflected on the water compel us to contemplate and reflect on our present; The interaction between light and the reflecting plates create an ethereal effect, representing a future that has a silver lining.

Positive values of light in contrast to the shadows cast during daytime and their negative representation during night-time echo a relationship between presence andabsence. The metal plates are outlined with the light projectors creating subtle silhouettes. This ambiguity between solid plates, voids, and the water reflection isused as a mechanism to bring materiality to absence. The loss of lives, casualties of this ongoing conflict, is remembered by casting light to emphasize this absence.

A glint emerges from each metal plate to reveal phrases written out with perforated lettering, complementing the site’s solemn tone as graphic and poetic expressions oflight.A colder shade of white is used to light the tree tops guiding the visitors eyes towards the sky. This light also encompasses the luminous space that emerges from the surrounding darkness as a lantern of hope.

The project was shortlisted for the Lighting Design Awards 2014 (UK), won a Special Citation for Cultural Importance at the GE Edison Awards 2014 (USA) and was honoured the Award of Excellence 2014 by the International Association of Lighting Designers (USA), amongst 9 lighting awards in total.