WATER.SPACE

CONCEPT

VOICES OF WATER honors the heroes of the past through a feminine landscape that embodies the ethereal nature of life. As a ceremonial place of welcome, a place of healing, and a place to honor service, the memorial design compliments an already sympathetic museum landscape that listens to the voices of nature and partakes in a life cycle that speaks to generations of sacrifice: past, present, and future.

The proposed memorial recognizes that EVERYTHING IS LIFE, that everything is intertwined, alive, and in balance. The design recalls the rich traditions of Native American culture and creates a spiritual landscape centered upon the qualities of water, the VOICES OF WATER. Through an interaction with episodic memorial environments, participants explore various states of the medium (mists, falls, clouds, rainbows, ice) that intensify their senses and bring greater awareness of the spiritual capacity of the landscape.

Choreographed to the season, the time of day, and the temperature, the memorial varies in its intensity and patterns of operation to produce an anticipated spectacle and engrave lasting memories. VOICES OF WATER privileges the mystery of the everyday, relating symbolic meaning to physical form. Its various environments serve as a habitable medium that mediates between the forces of nature and a meaningful site within the Nation’s Capital.

VOICE // FALLS

The memorial falls compliment the vibrant and bustling public museum spaces and enhance the sounds of the natural landscape. This constant rhythmic flow connects memorial visitors to a generative life force that has sustained generations. 

VOICE // MIST 

As visitors enter into the memorial landscape, they are overcome by the possibility of inhabiting the medium of water. Misting nozzles placed on four constructed berms relate to the four primary solstices and equinoxes and are patterned as the points of constellations forming each season’s animal - the bison, eagle, coyote or wolf, and bear. Choreographed to the season, the time of day, and the temperature, the mists vary in their intensity and patterns of operation to produce an anticipated spectacle. 

VOICE // CLOUD

The misting nozzles are capable of generating a mist that, based on the outside environment, creates clouds. These ephemeral forms leave the memorial site and drift at the will of the prevailing winds onto the Mall and across the Nation’s Capital. The impermanence of the physical object yields lasting memories and engrave recollections whose strength comes from an awakened awareness of one’s surroundings. 

VOICE // ICE

While still providing a meditative landscape, the memorial acknowledges and transforms under the grey winter sky. The laughter of children and visitors encouraged by the summer mist slowly evolve into winter whispers as the life process transforms. A single nozzle emits a fine mist as the memorial topography is lightly dusted in white.

VOICE // RAINBOW

The memorial privileges the mystery of the everyday. A conversation begins as water evaporates and reflects light. The memorial visitor listens as the planet speaks through an infinite spectrum of color.

PROJECT TEAM

Brian Ambroziak + Samantha Sowell + Katherine Bambrick Ambroziak

VOICES OF WATER // 2017