Letter People: Insignia Memoria

Memorial for Children, Royal Hospital for Women’s Park, Paddington.

The concept for Letter People (Insignia Memoria) developed from observations of how the park was currently used by people as well as the historical reasons for the creation of a memorial on this site. From early on it was apparent that a memorial for children in the RHW Park must function in a multi-layered way; that may be understood simply as part of the landscape without the need for memorialisation yet resonate significance which is equally readable for those whose intention is to remember.

The RHW Park’s informal layout and relaxed backyard atmosphere has a very intimate feel. There is a quality in the way children play in the park, climbing on the sandstone remnants of the hospital (completely oblivious to their historical importance) and exploring the garden spaces, which formed the guiding motivation for this memorial design. The idea of play and the need to give a name to people who once were connected with the hospital, merged.

Similar to the personal and brief quality of graffiti, the letters carved into these sandstone remnants, like alphabet blocks, remind us of the people whose initials they represent. For those who go to the park to remember past family and friends the significance of the letters reverberate at this deeper level, leaving their mark while maintaining some level of anonymity and privacy at the same time. Upon first glance or initial engagement with the site Letter People (Insignia Memoria) is light in feel and meaning. In this way the memorial works on a level where current users of the park can engage with it purely for what it is; an alphabet in the wall. So too, solid letters of varying heights, fonts, materials are randomly scattered around the park near seating in such a way that they may be sought out as places of quiet reflection or discovery.

An informal stair from the main level of the park to the upper terrace made with a jumble of large, brightly coloured blocks acts as though in amongst the order of the retaining wall some chaos has occurred; as metaphor for experiences of loss and grief and life turned on end yet also with childhood and play. The western end of the retaining wall adjacent to the niche provides the best site for this ‘interruption’. This niche is lined with sheets of slate which provides a great surface to write on with chalk. Visitors may be encouraged to interact with the memorial more overtly by leaving impermanent messages there; messages that are dispersed by the elements. Over time traces are left and a great patina will emerge. In this way the memorial maintains a gentle presence without imposing itself forcefully in the landscape.