Edwin Damen
Complex Projects
Garfield Park Cemetery
Imagine a place in the Western world where violence and death are part of the every day life.
At the heart of West Side Chicago, the neighborhoods of Garfield Park are commonly regarded as no-go areas in the city. A place for the poorest of the poor, the maladjusted, the hostile, and the black. Over the past few years, people have started to move out, leaving behind physical scars of vacant lots and abandoned homes. As it stands, the area has fallen behind in terms of public facilities, employment prospects, social cohesion, and life expectancy.
Introducing a cemetery at the heart of this residential neighborhood, one that weaves in between and beneath the abandoned streets, not only provides the area with a facility that has been deliberately shunned out of the city for centuries, but also introduces the notion of consequence, of acceptance and of equality. A presence of death, in order to respect the living. Imagine a place in the Western world where violence and death are part of the every day life.