Highland Park “Place of Remembrance” Memorial
Place of Remembrance is a proposed civic memorial conceived to honor the victims, survivors, first responders, and the broader community affected by the July 4, 2022 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. Developed as a shortlisted finalist, the project seeks to transform a site of profound loss into an enduring place of reflection, healing, and collective memory.
studioSTIGSGAARD was selected as a finalist and awarded Second Place in this important and deeply sensitive competition. Our proposals were guided by extensive reflection on the site, the stories of those most affected, and the shared values of remembrance, unity, and healing.
Project Size
25,000sf
Location
Highland Park, IL
2nd Place in Invited Design Competition
2025
“Highland Park? “...the place that has stood in for Hollywood as America, the typical American town in so many movies. But that tells you that of course it’s anytime, anywhere, any place. That’s the part that people need to recognize”
Mayor Nancy R. Rotering
An Inclusive Landscape of Remembrance
The project is grounded in the belief that memorials must balance gravity with openness—providing space for mourning while also supporting resilience and communal gathering. The design envisions a sequence of quiet, poetic moments that invite visitors to slow down, reflect, and connect, both individually and collectively. Rather than prescribing a single narrative, the memorial is conceived as an inclusive landscape that allows for personal interpretation and evolving meaning over time.
Central to the project is the idea of unity: diverse individuals coming together through shared presence, remembrance, and care. The memorial framework is intended to hold memory gently—acknowledging trauma while fostering calm, dignity, and hope. Landscape, materiality, and spatial choreography are carefully composed to support contemplation, ceremonies, and everyday encounters, reinforcing the memorial’s role as part of the civic fabric of Highland Park.
From Collective Process to Shared Continuity
The design process was envisioned as deeply collaborative, shaped through engagement with the City, the selection committee, the families of victims, and the wider community. Sensitivity, listening, and respect were fundamental to the approach, recognizing that the act of making a memorial is itself part of the healing process.
Place of Remembrance aspires to be more than a site of loss—it seeks to become a place of continuity, resilience, and shared humanity, offering space for remembrance today and reflection for generations to come.
A Memorial Rooted in Community
From the outset, our approach recognized that the memorial needed to be more than a static monument. It was envisioned as a place of solace and reflection for families, a gathering space for the community, and a symbolic civic landmark that carries the memory of July 4 forward into the future.
Part of the prompt from the Place of Remembrance Working Group and the Mayor of Highland Park was to develop up to five distinct design strategies. Below are three of the five proposals we developed. Each concept explores how architecture and landscape can embody themes of love, resilience, and unity—through movement, material, and form—framing a spatial journey that acknowledges loss while guiding visitors toward healing and renewal.
The Healing Path
The Healing Path invites visitors into a quiet, processional journey through a sequence of three spaces: an intimate inner sanctuary dedicated to victims and their families; a medium-scale space honoring first responders and civic leaders; and a larger outer space for the broader Highland Park community. Curved, sheltering walls create moments of pause, reflection, and emotional release. Two material expressions—earth-toned brick and luminous white stone—shape contrasting atmospheres of grounding and transcendence, anchoring memory while gently guiding visitors toward healing.
Eternal Embrace
Eternal Embrace is defined by a sculptural series of interlocking arches that form a continuous, sheltering void—an architecture of connection and presence. The arches reach upward and toward one another, creating a perpetual gesture of embrace. Within this space, visitors are surrounded by shifting light and shadow, invited to feel held by the structure itself. Both open and protective, the memorial embodies remembrance, love, and unity through architectural form.
Ascending Hope – The Living Memorial
Inspired by the butterflies, dragonflies, and birds observed moving across the site during our visit, Ascending Hope transforms nature into an active participant in remembrance. Known as The Butterfly Cloud, the design features a sculptural, curving screen wall that floats across the garden, shaping spaces of varying intimacy. At its center lies a deeply personal sanctuary for victims and families, surrounded by spaces honoring first responders and celebrating the resilience of the wider community. This is not only a memorial of memory, but of life itself—an evolving, breathing place where healing is intertwined with the rhythms of the natural world.
