Layout & History of John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza
The John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza was the first memorial by American designer and Kennedy household pal Philip Johnson and was accepted by Jacqueline Kennedy. Dallas elevated $200,000 for the memorial by August 1964, completely from 50,000 private donations added by civilians. The basic concrete memorial lies approximately 200 backyards, around 180 m, eastern of Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy was assassinated.
Philip Johnson’s style is a cenotaph, or vacant burial place, that represents the flexibility of Kennedy’s spirit. The framework is a square, roofless space, 30 feet, or 9.1 m, tall as well as 50 by 50 feet, or 15 by 15 m, square with 2 slim openings dealing with north and south. The wall surfaces contain 72 white precast concrete columns, the majority of which end 29 inches, or 740 mm, above the planet. 8 columns, i.e., 2 in each corner, reach the ground, serving as legs that support the monument. Each column finishes in a light fixture. In the evening, the lights produce the illusion that the light itself sustains the structure. The corners and “doors” of this roofless space are embellished with rows of concrete circles, or medallions, each the same, as well as completely lined up. These decorations introduce the circular form right into the square architecture of the Kennedy Memorial.
The cenotaph exists atop a low concrete hill, embossed with squares, as well as a little elevated contrasted to a street degree. Inside is a reduced block of dark granite, 8 feet, or 2.4 m, square, set into a bigger shallow clinical depression. The granite square is decorated on its north and south confronts with the name “John Fitzgerald Kennedy” carved in gold letters. The letters have been repainted gold to capture the light from the white drifting column wall surfaces and the pale concrete flooring.
Dallas celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Kennedy Memorial with an extensive preservation therapy that recovered the monolith to its original vigor. With the City of Dallas as well as the Dallas Area’s assistance, the Gallery introduced a major repair task in the summer season of 1999. Philip Johnson assisted the reconstruction procedure implemented by Phoenix I Restoration and Construction Ltd. Many neighborhood distributors gave away the labor, products, as well as devices required to return the memorial to its initial appeal.