with ‘mourning claim,’ rojkind arquitectos will extend the cemetery into the city

after weeks of social mourning, rojkind arquitectos encourages families to claim their loved one's individual cenotaph for the sidewalks of their homes.

kat barandy August 24, 2020 3 min

mexico-based studio rojkind arquitectos proposes its ‘mourning claim’ memorial as an abstracted extension of the cemetery into the city. devoid of figural representation, the work will express a field of vertical parts, each individually honoring a victim taken by COVID-19. the design team seeks to materialize the event that took hundreds of thousands of lives by surprise and did not allow a space for mourning. the team elaborates: ‘we are claiming the act of mourning. we can at least take care of that, of building symbols where we can place the testimony of our life and the lives of others. imagine a way through which we can bring these terrible deaths to shared memory, honoring their lives through cities filled with cenotaphs.‘

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render zócalo, mexico city
visualizations by diego díaz lezama | © rojkind arquitectos

rojkind arquitectos visualizes the ephemeral ‘mourning claim’ memorial both in new york city’s times square, and in mexico city’s zocalo. the cenotaph, imagined to occupy these monumental public spaces, will be dedicated to all of those that have died, even depicting their names. after some weeks of social mourning, rojkind arquitectos encourages families and friends to participate and take their loved one’s cenotaph to the sidewalks of their homes. this way, the memorial will extend throughout the neighborhoods of each city.

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render zócalo, mexico city

elaborating on its intentions in designing ‘mourning claim,’ rojkind arquitectos continues: ‘it is not about creating memorials or monuments that the state appropriates to manage social sensibilities. it is about creating simple cenotaphs that allow the living to watch over our dead and extend the cemetery inside the city, next to their homes. we strive to create a sensibility about death, displaying a social necessity to assume responsibility over the death of ‘another,’ any ‘other’ who died in any country, without regards to origin, race, gender, religion, political views, or migratory status.’

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render zócalo, mexico city

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sunset render times square

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sunset render times square

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sunset render times square

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sunset render times square

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sunset render times square

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sunset render times square

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after the memorial, families take their loved one’s cenotaph home