Spiritum

Lead Designers Brian Tran

Entry Description

Spiritum is a memorial light designed to honor victims of gun violence — spreading the light of their memories in permanent outdoor memorials.

In the wake of increasing gun violence, candle-lit vigils have become a common means of honoring those who have passed, allowing communities affected by tragedy to unify in their collective grief. Community vigils are generally filled with generic candles, flowers, photos, and stuffed animals to personalize the memorial and showcase the memory of the departed. However, this current form requires maintenance, and when left alone, these memorials are piles of unlit candles, wilting flowers, and tarnished stuffed animals.

With Spiritum, users carry their personalized light with their community to a chosen location where each person can stake their light into the ground, and the community can organize them into a beautiful memorial.

In Latin, 'Spiritum' means breath, air, soul, and life. The pulsing light through the detailed shell emulates a meditative breathing pattern and represents how the soul or memory of the departed still lives on with the memorial.