Sean Collier Memorial
Sean Collier |
The Sean Collier Memorial is a large abstract environmental sculpture located on the
History
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A spontaneous, temporary improvised memorial of flowers, messages, and small objects appeared shortly after news of Collier's death.[2] The MIT community wanted to create a permanent memorial, and assembled a committee of students, faculty, and police officers. A public call for ideas was put out in June 2013.[2] The final design for the memorial was unveiled in April 2014, allowing only a year for fabrication of components and construction.
On April 29, 2015, MIT held special ceremonies dedicating the memorial.
Architecture
The memorial consists of 32 massive
The architect, J. Meejin Yoon, has written that the heavy stone blocks mutually support each other, expressing strength through unity. They shelter a large ovoid cavity that represents "a passage, a marker, and an aperture that reframes the site".[3][1] The void represents the absence of the slain officer,[2] and is shaped like an oblong stone from a memorial cairn which had been constructed at trailside by Collier's friends from MITOC.[6]
The design was evaluated by Ochsendorf and his students using
The polished, tapered stone blocks were carved to a precision of 0.5 millimetres (0.020 in) using robotic saws and milling machines, and then surfaced with final finishing by hand.[3] The blocks were installed by a specialized team of riggers operating a crane and machinery, under the guidance of Ochsendorf, his team of students, and a construction manager. The temporary support scaffolding was slowly lowered over the span of 8 hours, while the descent of the central 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) keystone was carefully monitored. Predicted to settle 5 to 15 millimetres (0.20 to 0.59 in), the stone was actually measured as descending 6 millimetres (0.24 in).[2]
The memorial is physically sited immediately next to the location where Collier was murdered. An opening in the structure frames a view of the spot where he was sitting in his MIT Police car responding to a call for help, when he was ambushed and shot.[3][7][6][2] Raised stainless steel buttons, encoding Collier's police badge number "179" in Braille, are installed into the pavement beneath the memorial arches, to discourage its use by skateboarders.[2] Smaller granite blocks are placed around the periphery of the memorial, to provide seating for visitors.[2] Honey locust trees provide a living canopy that marks the passage of time.[3]
At night, in-ground
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Sean Collier Memorial". MIT List Visual Arts Center. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 22 August 2017. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Humphries, Courtney (May 22, 2015). "The Making of MIT's Collier Memorial". Architect: the journal of the American Institute of Architects. Hanley Wood Media. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ^ a b c d e f Yoon, J. Meejin. "Project: Sean Collier Memorial". MIT Architecture. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ a b c d Dizikes, Peter (April 28, 2015). "New memorial a labor of love: Architects and engineers detail their novel design for MIT's Collier Memorial". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ^ Annear, Steve (April 29, 2015). "MIT dedicates monument to Sean Collier". Boston Globe. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
- ^ a b c Chu, Jennifer (April 29, 2015). "A memorial built "with big hearts, and all love"". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
- ^ Lund, Kristin (October 10, 2014). "Work begins on the Collier Memorial". MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
External links
- Humphries, Courtney (May 22, 2015). "The Making of MIT's Collier Memorial". Architect: the journal of the American Institute of Architects. Hanley Wood Media. Retrieved 2015-07-08. Detailed article includes several architectural drawings showing siting, structural components, and foundations of the memorial.