Constructed Sites ad Collective Memory: A Proposal for Lower Manhattan's African Burial Ground

Architecture should be a derivative of site. As constructed sites, Archaeological sites pose an interesting dilemma with architecture: How does one approach an archaeological site with architecture? What operation best suits the site? The African Burial Ground is an exceptional example of a constructed site as well as the expression of the public’s desire to remember and signify this sacred site. Public request for these associations should result in site-derived architecture. Facilitating architecture as a derivative of site produces an expressive built form of culture, history and temporality.

To derive architectural form from the African Burial Ground I will use a process of uncovery, discovery, and recovery. Through researching the history of the site and of the city, I will uncover the site. To discover the site I will use Anthropological and Archaeological analyses. These analyses will aide cultural, historical and temporal knowledge. I will recover the site to the collective memory of Lower Manhattan by re-representing the artifacts and the site itself.