Better Places Memorial Ring
Date: 2017 - 2019
Location: Point Arena, California
Client: Better Places Forest
Status: Under Construction
Description: Matsys was commissioned by Better Places Forest and the landscape designer firm Fletcher Studio to produce a concept design for a memorial at a Spreading Forest, "a permanently protected forest where families can spread the ashes of their loved ones under private family trees". The memorial ring is a collective gathering and commemoration site located in a clearing adjacent to the main redwood grove. The concentric rings of concrete benches, pavers, and vegetation reference the patterns of growth found within tree rings and connect visitors to larger cycles of life and death. The tops of each bench are clad in stone tiles with the names of the memorial donors.
Credits: Bench Design: Matsys, Landscape Design: Fletcher Studio, Architecture: Openscope Studio, Bench Fabricator: QCP