National Memorial for Peace and Justice

Challenges
Material research, balanced loading, monumental structure

The primary structure, while exposed, seems to disappear from the observer’s perspective. This effect is achieved by a limited cantilever depth and a series of subtly articulated perimeter columns. The load-bearing columns and suspended modules are similarly sized and proportioned, blurring the difference between them and allowing them to blend into a single, cohesive whole.

While we also evaluated fiberglass and GFRC for use as the suspended module material, we finally selected steel shells to reduce loading demands on the columns and cantilevers. Strict performance criteria for the roof design limits deflections and ensures a visually clean horizontal plane, and a combination of member sizing, camber, framing configuration, and adjustment capabilities built into the modules’ attachment mechanisms allowed for precise control of the roof level.

Historical research continued during the project development, and more counties were added to the memorial during the design phase. In order to properly accommodate this growing scope, we generated a parametric control that allowed the Equal Justice Initiative and Mass Design group to reorganize the 800 modules as the number of counties increased and thus create an appropriate memorial experience. Ultimately, their locations drove the steel-framing alignments, with the structure acting as an expression of the memorial’s intent.