SITE PLAN / CONCEPT

The primary concept has to do with the ambiguities of patriaotism; the students protesting what they thought was an illegal violent act (war not sactioned by congress); while the national guardsmen were doing what they considered their duty, maintaining the peace as evaluated by the state's governor.

This ambiguity is developed as a figure-ground ambiguity with stones having face profile images.

The plan orients the memorial site towards the Victory Bell which was a traditional rallying point after athetic teamvictories and had been a gathering point for students protesting the bombing of suspected Viet Cong sites in Cambodia. The walkways form images of facial profiles when walked upon.

The one from the south appears to face towards the victory bell, while the one from the northwest has two interpretations, faces looking in two directions, in opposition.

IMAGERY MAP

this shows arrows that indicate strategic sight lines between pre-existing places of significance and new site memorial elements.

AXONOMETRIC MEMORIAL PLAN

This shows the complementary positive and negative site grading making part of the memorial elevated above ground while part of it is below grade. The four stones (four mortally wounded) form a central circle. The use of a nine square grid is thematic, representing the nine surviving wounded victims and relating to the numerology of the date (4th day of the 5th month).

MEMORIAL PLAN AND SECTION

"eye of the witness"

The 28 radiating lines of the form work of the retaining walls represent the 28 national guardsmen who fired on the students, the non-radiating grid represents the ground of the absolute equinimity of nature and god. (28 also being a mystical number representing cycles of both the moon and human fertility.)

SERIAL VISION - SPATIAL SEQUENCE

the F.A.C.E. =

Factual

Account

Container

Element