The Gun Violence Memorial Project was conceived in collaboration with MASS Design Group, a non-profit architecture and design collective. Installed as a memorial dedicated to victims of gun violence, it opened at the 2019 Chicago Architecture Biennial. The memorial seeks to share individual stories and provide a platform for survivors and family members to come together to honor the lives of their loved ones. Other partners include gun safety advocacy organizations Purpose Over Pain and Everytown for Gun Safety.

The design features four houses built of 700 glass bricks, in total representing the average number of lives lost due to gun violence each month in America. Each brick contains a remembrance object that has been donated by a family member to commemorate their loved ones, and will display the name, year of birth, and year of death of the person being honored. The glass houses form a living memorial that allow visitors to enter and be proximate to the humanity housed within its walls. The project seeks to create a permanent, national memorial.

Hank Willis Thomas + MASS Design Group

2019, Chicago Architecture Biennial + National Building Museum

Glass, wood, and miscellaneous artifacts, 72sq.ft. per house

Learn more at The Gun Violence Memorial Project