The proposed live-museum at the Stony Creek Quarry in Branford, Connecticut, USA, reimagines the site as a dynamic memory device, celebrating its role as a space-making force through both construction and excavation. For over a century, the quarry’s signature pink granite has been a cornerstone of American landmarks, though the town of Branford has largely faded from public awareness. This museum aims to restore that legacy, intertwining past and present by situating exhibits directly within the active quarry.

The museum’s design subtly evokes the “full” landscape that the quarrying process has altered. A gently sloped roof covers a corner of the quarry, hinting at the original terrain, while a descending sequence of gallery spaces leads visitors into the heart of the site. These galleries ultimately open to a theater with the quarry scene as its dramatic backdrop, connecting visitors with the live, ongoing quarrying process. Ink rubbing serves as a tactile tool for translating the quarry’s material history, capturing textures and finishes of Stony Creek granite on screens and curtains that shape the museum’s interior.

Throughout the journey, visitors encounter varying densities of the iconic granite, immersing them in the quarry’s evolving legacy. By embedding the museum within an active industrial site, the project preserves and honors the quarry’s cultural heritage, celebrating its role in shaping collective memory while inviting the public into the artistry and industry of space-making.

This project was undertaken at Yale School of Architecture with instructor Tei Carpenter in Spring 2023.