client: Interval House design: Ruth Mora, Paul Whelan arborist: Advanced Tree Care contractor: Allweather Landscape electrical: MemCo Electrical metalwork: Renaissance Fabrications
Symbols are powerful tools of communication as they represent bigger ideas by association; they become highly significant by their ability to transmit emotions, memories and ideas. We understood that it was the intrinsic value of the parts that would give meaning to this place. The addition of memories through the use of one symbol – a single stone in a stream of stones, would make this place special. Each stone commemorates the life of a person while the collection of stones represents the power of a community. The stream of stones leads to a plaque with words of hope. Suddenly, a small space concentrates healing and meaning. Interval House is committed to a very noble idea. We are pleased to have contributed in this small and indirect way to healing for Interval House families. We are happy to have to see the beauty of small moments and their cumulative addition to create a small piece of meaning to this community. — Ruth Mora
It seems that there is always an extraordinary relationship between the whole and the parts, between something that we consider large, and something we consider little. This relationship of addition and subtraction seems to form all we know. Something not-so-small caught our attention when we were assigned the task to develop a memorial garden for Interval House. This group takes care of abused woman and children while teaching them to rebuild a solid future for themselves. The sensitive nature of memorials contrasts with the often festive nature of gathering places. We needed to fuse a place of contemplation and sorrow to represent those that were no longer here with a place for those looking for hope and protection. The area was captivatingly small, compact. It asked for amalgamation and intensification. Many existing site elements were kept; the place was so perfectly shaped, so complex in its nature that it seemed to us that by careful addition we could amplify its meaning.
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On Site review 23 Small Things
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