The Long Beach Covid-19 Memorial emphasizes the importance of human connection. Its form is purposefully ‘incomplete’ in order to create opportunities for public engagement. The Memorial responds to the loss, disconnection and isolation experienced during the pandemic, and continue to experience, by supporting the different ways that people heal. To accommodate a wide range of rituals and traditions for commemoration, the memorial consists of multiple and discrete entities, some which are static and others that are retractable to provide covered space for temporary gatherings. 

Twin Arches, 20 feet high and 40 feet wide, occupy the east and west ends of the Civic Center Complex. On approach, the Arches and their reflection on the ground present the image of incomplete circles. Pavers with a mirrored finish are set into the ground and dispersed in front of each Arch, creating a landscape of missing pieces. They allude to the inconceivable vastness of loss due to the pandemic. The names of those that have been lost are cut into the interior surface of each Arch. Visitors are encouraged to touch and interact with the Memorial by inserting flowers in the letters of names. As the names extend above, beyond the point of legibility, they become blank lines that represent unknown individuals, those whose death were not recorded, and those we will lose to the next pandemic. 

For the Memorial to accommodate more ways of commemorating loss, the Twin Arches can expand outwards towards each other to provide cover over the lawn area between them. This temporary use of the lawn employs methods of appropriating space for communal use that became commonplace across the globe during the pandemic. The flexible adaptation of space for different uses was a positive turning point in the early days of the pandemic when isolation and uncertainty was most intense. A retractable structure is stored within each Arch and hidden from view when not in use. One end is permanently fixed to the Arch while the other can be extended when needed.