Winning Design for African Burial Ground Memorial

Rodney Leon, an African American of Haitian descent, is the winning designer for the permanent African Burial Ground site memorial in New York City. Mr. Leon, a Brooklyn native, received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute in 1992 and his Masters degree from Yale University in 1995, when he focused on the impact of African culture throughout the Diaspora. "One of the things we took into consideration in our design {that} people {should} be being able to come to the design and inter-act with it, especially children.... We want to teach our generations ... to acknowledge the history of their ancestors."

The winning design by architect Rodney Leon for New York City's African Burial Ground was announced last week by Stephen Perry, Administrator, U.S. General Services Administration. The memorial will have seven elements: a Wall of Remembrance, Ancestral Pillars, Memorial Wall, Ancestral Chamber, Circle of the Diaspora, Spiral Procession Ramp and Ancestral Libation Court. Mr. Leon's design was one of five selected from 61 applicants. The public, through forums and feedback to a Web site, were instrumental in selecting the design for the site.