To honor the losses caused by the pandemic over the past two years, a temporary national memorial will be built in Bedworth’s Miners' Welfare Park in England on May 21st until May 28th. Designed by artist David Best, Sanctuary will serve as a powerful symbol of catharsis and rebirth for the whole community, giving them the chance to grieve the losses caused by the pandemic by writing messages or leaving mementos on the walls of the installation, which will then be burned on its last day.
The installation is produced by Artichoke, in collaboration with Coventry-based Imagineer and members of the local community of North Warwickshire. It will rise from the center of the Miners’ Welfare Park, which is known as ‘the town that never forgets’ due to their annual Armistice Day Parade. Sanctuary will be Artichoke’s third memorial collaboration with Best following Temple, which have previously commemorated the Great Fire of London. Artist David Best is known for his large-scale and intricately-carved structures displayed at Burning Man in the Nevada Desert.
Since late 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic has made quite an impact on the built environment, forcing architects to change the way they design mixed-use developments, housing, offices, and public spaces. Two years after the widespread, the world found itself in need of establishing new ways to make people comfortable and safe returning to the office and outdoor spaces, answering the question of how could they design for a better world that would be flexible, functional, and healthy?
Many cities have already implemented new initiatives to reimagine cities post-pandemic. New York City's Mayor announced the launch of the Open Boulevards program, an initiative that temporarily closes off car traffic on boulevard segments across several blocks, in the means of expanding the public space for dining, cultural activities and artistic performances to better serve diners, cyclists and pedestrians amidst the pandemic. UN-Habitat also released 12 key principles for an effective urban response during COVID-19, highlighting innovative approaches that are centered on the active participation of the community.
