9/11 Memorial

9/11 Memorial

The New York World Trade Center site has had a rebirth through tragic loss. The twin memorial reflecting pools, “Reflecting Absence” (The National September 11 Memorial & Museum), are surrounded by the names of the 2,983 people who were murdered in the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Pools are constructed on the footprints of the original twin towers (9/11 Memorial Guide). The pools were selected from nearly 5,200 proposals submitted in a competition and was designed by Michael Arad, an Israeli-American architect and Peter Walker, a native Californian landscape architect (9/11 Memorial Architect Discusses Vision for Landmark).

The reflecting pool looks like a majestic square waterfall or cascade with the water flowing into a smaller square hole in the center of the pool. The memorial inspires my imagination into thinking that the hole is bottomless and the water eternally falls into the universe. The sound of the water is calming and comfortable because it eliminates noisy sounds of down town Manhattan. The space is very healing. In Addition, the park also has 200 oak trees and it will have 400 in the near future (9/11 Memorial Architect Discusses Vision for Landmark).

I also found interest that there is a narrow and shallow pool under the stone frame that has the name of the September 11 victims and Arad hopes that “each person who visits touches the water, touches the panels, and finds his or her own way to connect” (9/11 Memorial Architect Discusses Vision For Landmark). In addition, according to Arad, the arrangement of the names was created by “grouping them by tower, business, friendship, or requests from the families” (9/11 Memorial Architect Discusses Vision for Landmark). I like the arrangement because the families or friends can visit the memorial and find them together in one place.

In Conclusion, I found that the 9/11 Memorial succeeds at making visitors aware of the tragedy, remember the victims, respecting people who risked their lives to save others, and recognizing people’s sorrow and endurance. It is a good environment for sitting down on the bench and reflecting.

Works  Cited

Arad, Michael. Interview by DuDois, Maurice. “9/11 Memorial Architect Discusses Vision for Landmark”. CBS Local Media, adivision of CBS Radio Inc. CBS New York. 9 Sep. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.

“The Memorial Names Layout”. Memorial. National September 11 Memorial & Museum, 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.