Cenotaph of Youth

In the dense center of Salt Lake City, Utah, a tooth is missing from the framework of the city. Where a building once stood, all that remains is an empty pit, the result of a recent demolition. Historically, this empty pit once contained generations of notable buildings, and yet today there is no physical manifestation of any of that.

In an effort to make a “parasite,” a building which attaches to another while providing a use separate of the host building, Cenotaph of Youth is both a memorial and a playground. Rather than conducting an urban infill, the playground spaces are lifted high above the pit to further emphasize the void in the city.

While the exterior spaces are hung by steel cables connected to wide-flange beams, the interior follows a similar logic in it’s metal framework. This steel matrix constrains the wall partitions from which the memorial is organized.