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LongHouse Reserve’s Larsen Salon Series recently convened at the Park Avenue offices of Robert A.M. Stern Architects with architect Michael Arad in conversation with critic Paul Goldberger, exploring Arad’s latest project, the memorial for the 2015 shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. From left, LongHouse Director Dr. Carrie Rebora Barratt, Goldberger, Arad and Stern architect Michael Jones, a member of the LongHouse Reserve board of directors. JOHN SANDERSON/ ANNIE WATT AGENCY
LongHouse Reserve’s Larsen Salon Series recently convened at the Park Avenue offices of Robert A.M. Stern Architects with architect Michael Arad in conversation with critic Paul Goldberger, exploring Arad’s latest project, the memorial for the 2015 shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina.
“It was important to us,” opened Arad, “to create a space where the community would feel included. For me, someone who’s completely from the outside — I’m not Christian, not Black, not local, not from Charleston — to presume what would be the correct design direction without engaging in conversation would have been fruitless … We approached this project by considering the nature of forgiveness.”
Goldberg added, “The act of forgiveness transcends those identity markers … Certain things about human experience transcend culture. Even though we don’t normally think of it this way, feeling is itself a function. Gothic cathedrals inspire feeling and emotion. There is a long history of form following feeling.”
In closing, Arad offered, “Public spaces are important in our society — for many reasons — but primarily, I think, because it gives us a shared sense of identity. As an architect, when you can contribute to that, it’s very gratifying.”
Staff Writer on Mar 15, 2024