The Art Newspaper

Remembering the victims

The heart of Ground Zero will be a memorial plaza and museum dedicated to the victims of the attacks

By The Art Newspaper. Features, Issue 227, September 2011
Published online: 08 September 2011

Names of victims are inscribed in bronze parapets around the memorial pools (Photo: Amy Dreher)

Memorial

See also:

• Replacing the twin towers

Design: Michael Arad and Peter Walker Timescale: 2002-11 Client: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Dimensions: 60,000 sq. m

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation instigated a competition in 2002 for the design of a memorial on the site where the twin towers formerly stood. In 2004, Reflecting Absence, the project conceived by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, was selected from more than 5,000 submissions. The overall memorial project comprises the memorial itself, the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion and a transportation hub. The memorial consists of a square planted with hundreds of oak trees, forming a space commemorating the victims of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 and 26 February 1993. Two square-shaped pools of water occupy the site where the twin towers once stood, a permanent reminder of the two buildings that were destroyed.

National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion

Design: Snøhetta Timescale: 2004-11 Client: National September 11 Memorial & Museum at the World Trade Center Dimensions: 4,500 sq. m

The only building erected on the Ground Zero site itself, it was designed as a meeting and information point, as well as the entrance to Davis Brody’s underground museum. Ideas as to the function and purpose of the pavilion have changed many times over the years; it is now dedicated to visitor comfort and orientation. The building is relatively long and low, intentionally contrasting with the vertical emphasis of the rest of the site. The large, glazed atrium reflects the greenery of the surroundings, sheds light into the underground museum and leads the eye into the interior of the building.

Memorial Museum

Design: Davis Brody Bond (in association with Michael Arad and Peter Walker) Timescale: 2006-12 Client: Lower Manhattan Development Corporation Dimensions: 11,000 sq. m

The museum, all of which is underground, occupies the original site and will display the remains of the twin towers as if they were archaeological artefacts. Access is via the Snøhetta-designed pavilion and a passage/walkway known as “the ribbon”. The shell of the building—which comprises the foundations of the twin towers, the remains of the walls, some support beams and other original elements—is itself an exhibit. From within the museum, it will be possible to view the pools of water comprising the memorial.

Compiled by Daria Ricchi