(e)SCAPE

Type: Competition//Project: Cold War Veterans Memorial//Site: Kenosha, Wisconsin,US

The design addresses the contrastive properties of anxious feeling suffered during the war period and peace experienced after the war. The sunken circular landscape with low-height rough ceiling and bumpy floor expresses the experience of veterans during the war period while the smooth rooftop seen from ground level reveals the celebratory phase after the war. This structure is supported by 47 columns signifying the 47 years of cold war. This also acts as a metaphor and image of rough experience and sacrifice of veterans (under-the-roof) supporting the peaceful and smooth society (rooftop).

The scale of the war is expressed with the vast scale (250’) of the structure where a person will feel small and lost under the roof. All the visitors are unified by one-purpose and direction and they will need to collaborate with others to find the main circle (The Circle of Infinite Skies) amid the vast landscape. This will choreograph the visitors from experiencing distress and anxiety into freedom and liberty, hence, the name being (e)Scape (Escaping + Landscape).

The structure is rotated 240 degrees to Southwest (30 degrees counterclockwise from West), so that on 26th December, the day of the end of cold war, the sunset will align to this axis, signifying the end of the cold war.