Ireland’s National Memorial for HIV & AIDS
Kevin Kelly Architects along with Stand Engineers and ARUP are delighted to share that we have been shortlisted for the international design competition to design the HIV & AIDS National Memorial of Ireland. We have worked alongside communities in Ireland to design a platform to combat the last great barrier of HIV & AIDS: Stigma.
The initial outbreak of HIV and the corresponding AIDS crisis was marked by fear, isolation, misinformation and stigmatisation. It is 40 years since the first clinical diagnoses of AIDS in Ireland and its impact here was no less devastating on the lives of individuals, their families and communities. In those early years, much of the fear and stigmatisation arose from a lack of information and myths about transmission.
For many the stigma became another burden on top of the burden of the disease itself. It is a legacy which many communities still struggle with today.
Our design, ‘Raising Voices’ will allow those whose lives have been affected by the virus to be heard without fear of discrimination.