Raising Voices - Ireland’s National Memorial for HIV & AIDS
Following ‘The Irish Names Project’, ‘Raising Voices’ is a billowing quilt, lifted high in the air, a woven tapestry of patchwork squares each with a unique story to tell. The space beneath is a memorial to those who have passed, a reminder to many that they are not alone, and a platform where the voices of the future tell their story. In unison, we are raising voices to change the narrative and combat the last great barrier: stigma. The quilt takes its form from colliding sound waves travelling across a fabric sheet. The stone plinths and seating below a mirror image. The sound of the past meets the sound of the future with space for the present in between.
A comfort quilt of interwoven voices; each patch is a unique QR link to an online archive of people anonymously sharing how HIV and AIDS have touched their lives; without fear of discrimination. This is an elevated platform for hidden voices to be heard. To change the narrative we must hear real people with real stories.
The memorial offers an opportunity to remember the despair of the past and forge a future of hope. Running alongside the patchwork of voices, light filters through the perforations in the fabric illuminating the undulating quilt and casting dappled shadows. The stone plinths are symbolic of the weight of the past and the strength of those who came before us. ‘Raising Voices’ offers both inward shelter and outward-facing seating with robust and tactile finishes. Clashing sound waves pattern the floor, encircling the seating, bringing our voices together at the epicentre of this space for events or talks. Level floor access welcomes all those with different needs.
The canopy is formed from ribbons of aluminium stitch welded together into a stiff corrugated fabric. Generally, the aluminium ribbons are 4mm, whilst the edges of the canopy are 6mm thick to provide additional stiffness in the unlikely case of someone trying to hang from the piece. To maintain the canopy’s feeling of weightlessness, the corrugated fabric is stiffened with hidden cantilevered aluminium ribs, which are supported on two discrete galvanised steel posts integrated into the raised mounds. The orientation and location of the two legs are symmetrical and provide stability to the structure against lateral loading (wind) etc. Below the ground, the posts and raised mounds are all anchored to a new concrete raft slab. Whilst appearing like lace caught in a breeze, the canopy has been designed to be robust.