Rudin Management has rejected a design proposed for a possible AIDS memorial at the site of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital, according to the New York Daily News. The proposed Village AIDS memorial design was selected by a celebrity panel that included actress Whoopi Goldberg.
The chosen design for the Village AIDS memorial, which comes courtesy of Brooklyn-based architecture firm Studio a+i, would be a tree garden surrounded by mirrors on all sides with a granite exterior. The firm called their design “Infinite Forest.” Visitors would have been encouraged to write the names of loved ones in the park, rather than having an engraved list of AIDS victims.
However, the proposed park sits on land owned by Rudin Management as part of the deal to convert the former St. Vincent’s Hospital site into condos and commercial space. The city has given Rudin permission to develop a park on the site, and the company politely rejected the proposed design, saying that they have their own plans for a Village AIDS memorial park with the aid of designer Rick Parisi.
DNAInfo posted some of Parisi’s designs on their website in September. The designs were not well received by some residents, who called Parisi’s work “generic.”
