Paul Laurence Dunbar has been called the poet of his people. The themes of his poems use the words dream, sympathy and mask, evoking the great facades of the Afro-American experience, all of which were concealed. These facades were concealed because they disguised the true worlds of nineteenth century Afro-Americans and their factual lives. The Stream of Glass monument constructs a physical portal that symbolically spans the one hundred twenty years since the Cotton States and International Exposition, acting as an unmasking of the tactile portraits of Dunbar’s people.
One hundred twenty years ago, and just thirty years after the Civil War, a building stood in Atlanta representing the Afro-American people for a mere lifespan of just three months.
Our remembrance of the Negro Building will construct variations of its structure acting as a time-based monument on its historic ground from 1895. The accumulation of these variations will memorialize the moment in time from 1895 as a series of symbolic vaults for current and future global generations struggling for civil rights daily, in order to express free speech, just as Paul Laurence Dunbar did during his lifetime.
The concept of tranquility is the antithesis of Afro-American endeavors embodied in the writings of Dunbar. The physical structure of the monument represents the three months of time that the Negro Building stood at the Cotton States and International Exposition. The monument encases reflecting pools in which islands of light are floating within Dunbar’s so-called Stream of Glass, as mentioned in his poem Sympathy. The sitting areas around the reflecting pools are open to each and every individual visiting and inhabiting the Stream of Glass. The Stream of Glass is one of tranquility and is timeless just as are the poems of Dunbar. Within the Stream of Glass the islands of light are inscribed with the words of Dunbar’s poem Sympathy. These words are mirrored into the reflecting pool creating an animate monument in remembrance of the Negro Building.
Site :
The site of the Stream of Glass monument surrounds the exact location of the Negro Building from 1895. The former building’s footprint is reconstructed as reflecting pools depicting the Stream of Glass. Directly above the Stream of Glass reflecting pools are a series of levitating vault systems representing the Negro Building’s roof structure. The literal location of these elements on the site preserves the Negro Building in a present day monument representing 1895.
Materials :
The following ephemeral materials will assemble into the Stream of Glass monument, all of which will resonate long after visitors have inhabited the monument.
Light, both natural and artificial will illuminate the monument’s allegorical faces, displaying the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the Stream of Glass.
Sound, of water and voices, fill the Stream of Glass with murmurs of 1895 and 2015 simultaneously within the monument’s reflecting pools.
Vision, reflections from past, present and future generations condense into the Stream of Glass as constructed in the monument’s tubular structure.
One hundred twenty years ago, and just thirty years after the Civil War, a building stood in Atlanta representing the Afro-American people for a mere lifespan of just three months.
Our remembrance of the Negro Building will construct variations of its structure acting as a time-based monument on its historic ground from 1895. The accumulation of these variations will memorialize the moment in time from 1895 as a series of symbolic vaults for current and future global generations struggling for civil rights daily, in order to express free speech, just as Paul Laurence Dunbar did during his lifetime.
The concept of tranquility is the antithesis of Afro-American endeavors embodied in the writings of Dunbar. The physical structure of the monument represents the three months of time that the Negro Building stood at the Cotton States and International Exposition. The monument encases reflecting pools in which islands of light are floating within Dunbar’s so-called Stream of Glass, as mentioned in his poem Sympathy. The sitting areas around the reflecting pools are open to each and every individual visiting and inhabiting the Stream of Glass. The Stream of Glass is one of tranquility and is timeless just as are the poems of Dunbar. Within the Stream of Glass the islands of light are inscribed with the words of Dunbar’s poem Sympathy. These words are mirrored into the reflecting pool creating an animate monument in remembrance of the Negro Building.
Site :
The site of the Stream of Glass monument surrounds the exact location of the Negro Building from 1895. The former building’s footprint is reconstructed as reflecting pools depicting the Stream of Glass. Directly above the Stream of Glass reflecting pools are a series of levitating vault systems representing the Negro Building’s roof structure. The literal location of these elements on the site preserves the Negro Building in a present day monument representing 1895.
Materials :
The following ephemeral materials will assemble into the Stream of Glass monument, all of which will resonate long after visitors have inhabited the monument.
Light, both natural and artificial will illuminate the monument’s allegorical faces, displaying the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the Stream of Glass.
Sound, of water and voices, fill the Stream of Glass with murmurs of 1895 and 2015 simultaneously within the monument’s reflecting pools.
Vision, reflections from past, present and future generations condense into the Stream of Glass as constructed in the monument’s tubular structure.
Location: NYC, NY
T. Joseph Surjan - design scientist & writer
S. Hjelte Fumanelli - project architect & digital modeling
T. Joseph Surjan - design scientist & writer
S. Hjelte Fumanelli - project architect & digital modeling