CLIENT: HURRICANE MARIA MEMORIAL COMMISSION
PROJECT: HURRICANE MARIA MEMORIAL
BATTERY PARK CITY, NY
DESIGN: ARCHITECT SEGUNDO CARDONA AND ARTIST ANTONIO MARTORELL
ARTIST: ANTONIO MARTORELL
ROLE: OPEN COMPETITION MANAGER
DATES: 2019-2021
Gov. Andrew Cuomo sponsored a memorial honoring the victims and survivors of the 2017 devastating hurricane. The memorial, to stand as an international symbol of the resilience of the Puerto Rican community, was unveiled March 2021. SRFA managed the open competition process reviewing over 120 submissions. The selected proposal, My Cry into the World, was created by Antonio Martorell, artist, and Segundo Cardona, architect. The Hurricane Maria Memorial is an ascending glass spiral, evocative of a hurricane as well as a shell, which is a symbol of protection for living organisms against a hostile environment such as extreme weather.
The spiral evokes a hurricane and a shell: symbols of both destruction and protection. Rising from the center with hope is the star of Puerto Rican flag. Throughout are words from Julia de Burgos' poem Farewell from Welfare Island: "It has to come from here, right this instance, my cry into the world."
Segundo Cardona and Antonio Martorell said, "As well as many other Puerto Ricans, we witnessed firsthand the terrible effects of Hurricane Maria. Our proposal for the creation of a memorial in New York City to remember the victims of the hurricane arose from a shared vision that one can always transform the sad memory of adverse circumstances into something positive and poetic that can bring solace to all. The poem Farewell from Welfare Island, by one of Puerto Rico's greatest poets, Julia de Burgos, is interpreted as organic shapes of calligraphy resulting in a boisterous expression of color, letters, and shapes. Its message, both timeless and specific, is sensitive to New Yorkers and to the Puerto Rican community of any gender and age. A message intended to involve passersby, invite curiosity, provoke thought and invoke contemplation."
