A garden is an experience of silent beauty - a place where the vibrant life of it’s Spring-time form belies the emptiness and suffering of the dark Winter from which it was born. Yet, it is the dialectic relation between these two special moments that writes the ongoing story of the garden. Once a thriving plantation, Middleton Place celebrates it’s historic past by educating visitors through reenactments of plantation life, farming, and trade skills. It is also the home to the oldest and most renowned landscape garden in America. Despite this rich history, the story celebrated by this place is incomplete. In this place of beauty, the suffering which served to birth this paradise has been forgotten, and thus the grounds of Middleton Place serve as a perfect opportunity for the home of a memorial to the humanity and history of the slaves that lived and dies here. This project seeks to make visible that which was invisible thus initiating the process of healing and a shared desire of growth. Like the grafting of branches creates a new plant, the relation between the beauty of the gardens and the suffering of those that labored under oppression to build them can be honored to create a deeper and more meaningful experience of this place. A commemorative center is proposed to facilitate this experience. The idea proposes that the center shall house a ceremony, taking place every year during the harvest period of October. This ceremony celebrates the design of a new garden feature, created by an interdisciplinary team comprised of a historian, landscape architect, and horticulturalist. This feature shall be meant to signify the healing of the land, the renewal of the human spirit, and the unity of all people. The team will also unveil the creation of a new plant, whose development celebrates the grafting of separate branches to create a cohesive whole. The garden feature and plant will be exhibited in the center throughout the growing season. After the exhibition is completed and ground turned over, the new plant and garden documentation become part of an ongoing living exhibition and the cycle begins again with a new team for the next year. Program elements include: A place of solitude: A meditative place to remember the people bound as slaves at Middleton Place. This dark and uncomfortable space encourages one to reflect on the suffering and stifling of human beings held back by the repressive institution of slavery A memorial space: A space to commemorate the humanity and lives of those bound in chains and to display the annual plant, commemorating the hope of a healing and unified future Study Areas: Separate retreat spaces for the team A place of cooperation: A space that allows for creativity and development of profound ideas. A collaborative work area for the team A place to gather in community: This is a public gathering place to celebrate, honor, present, discuss. Here every year there will be a special celebration in October that presents the commemorative garden design. After the celebration, the group makes a pilgrimage to the garden. During the rest of the year the space will be used as an event space for lectures, performances, weddings and banquets