This memorial, designed by architect Michael Arad of Handel Architects and landscape architect Peter Walker of PWP, opened on the 10th anniversary of the attacks on the Word Trade Centre complex. This design team was selected from the World Trade Centre Site Memorial Competition hosted by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and named the winning design ‘Reflecting Absence’.
The design consists of two recessed pools on the location of the former ‘Twin Towers’ within the setting of a ‘forest’ of trees. The perimeter parapets of the two sunken pools contain the names of the victims of the attacks (all attacks that took place on 11/09/2001 and this of the previous attack on the Word Trade Centre attack in 1993) etched onto bronze plates. A continuous sheet of water falls 9.1m in to each pool giving the feeling of falling, in addition the noise of the waterfall helps to muffle the sound of the surrounding city. At the centre of each pool is void into which the water continuously cascades into the abyss.
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Reflecting Pool and Centre Void
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Etched Bronze of those Killed
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Waterfall to Memorial Edge
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Waterfall Edge Detail
The surrounding landscape is paved with granite, 12″ x 60″ pavers and 3″ x 15″ cobbles. A ‘Cobblestone Campaign’ was conducted to raise some of the funding for this memorial by encouraging individuals to sponsor a ‘cobblestone’. Granite benches are included within the paving design. Approximately 400 native Swamp White Oaks (Quercus bicolor) form a wooded environment and provide a suitable setting for this contemplative memorial.
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Edge of Memorial Containing Names of Those Killed
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Pedestrian Area Surrounding Memorial
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Paving Surrounding the Memorial
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Seating Surrounding the Memorial
One Callery Pear (Pyrus chanticleer) was recovered from the rubble of the attack. This tree was moved to the Arthur Rose Nursery in the Bronx where it was replanted and recovered. It was then moved to and replanted at the memorial site in 2010 and is now known as the Survivor Tree.
9/11 Memorial, Manhattan, New York City, USA – Survivor Tree Pyrus calleryana
Peter Walker – An Early Sketch of the 9/11 Memorial ©PWP
