Journeys of the Questress - WTC
My Memorial Design Submission
Home
The Way it Was - 1
The Way it Was - 2
Sept 19 - When Tomorrow Never Comes
Sept 27 - Oral Interpretation
Oct 5 - A Mile of Tears - Part 1
Oct 5 - A Mile of Tears - Part 2
Oct 5 - A Mile of Tears - Part 3
Oct 11 - Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Oct 28 - Each Day I Search the Rubble
Nov 12 - When Spires Fall
Nov 19 - 911 The Rape of America
Dec 14 - Just A Thought
Dec 18 - A Sense of Place
Feb 2 - Final Pass to the End Zone
March 3 - Sitting on the Edge
March 14- Do You Still Remember
March 20 - Virtual Walk-Through
March 25 - When Will It End - Part 1
March 25 - When Will It End - Part 2
April 1 - Towers of Light
May 14 - View From Above
May 30 - Tunnel At the End of the Light
May 31 - Seventeen Hundred
Aug 9 - From the Margins Erased
Aug 30 - The Train Doesn't Stop There Anymore
Sept 9 - Ceremonies of Light and Dark
Sept 10 - Just An Anniversary
Sept 12 - September Holds Great Promise
Literary Reflections
Rebirth and Resurrection
The Winter Garden Springs To Life
The Winter Garden Springs To Life - con't
Underpass to the Past
Rebuilding Ground Zero
Under Hallowed Ground
Borders
Yahrzeit
What Will Fill the Void?
I Submit a Design
Footprints in the Dust
My Memorial Design Submission
My Memorial Design - Drawings
New Path Train Station
Path Station Tour
May We Never Forget
That Which Surives
War Without End
4th Anniversary
Footprints in the Dust
Void
I Miss 9/11
Time Comes Between Us
A Thousand Cranes
Fear Factor
Love Letters On The Wall
Empty Chairs
Sitting on the Edge of Forever
Walking the Perimeter of Emptiness
A Counting of Days
For Friends Absent But Not Forgotten
Stigmata
The Memory Keeper's Promise
Unbreak My Heart
Standing On The Edge Of Forever
Both Sides Now
A Memory In Time
The Gravity of Loss
The Survivors Rise Up
Flowers Will Bloom
The Fire Within Us
The Sentinel
Stronger Than The Storm
Between the Candle and the Stars
Ghosts
A Journey Through Remembrance
Canticle of Remembrance
Beyond the Crucible of Chaos
Journey Through Remembrance project
What See We Now
Forever In Our Hearts
Keeping the Flame Alive
The Rebuilding of Ground Zero continues
Does Anyone Care Anymore?
Where Is Our Story Teller of Pain
At Memory's Edge
Dust Thou Art and to Dust Thou Shalt Return
7x7x70
Heroes Never Die
The Flame Inside Our Hearts
The Year of the Heroes of 9/11
Déjà Vu
Remembering 9/11 in the year of COVID-19
Coronavirus Decimates Ailing Sept. 11 Responders
Touching From a Distance
That Which Survives 20 years later
2021 - 20 years later
Memories of Terror Return
Putin's Name Covered Over On Teardrop Memorial
The 9/11 Tribute Museum Closes
When Memories Fade Away
St. Nicholas at Ground Z is rebuilt
The Blue Wall of the Unidentified Victims
When Time Calls Your Name
When Art Gets It All Wrong

newbanner2.jpg

The Memorial Competition - My Submission

Click on the thumbnails to view enlargements

viewfromseptember11place.jpg

viewfromwfc.jpg

groundplan.jpg
Designing a memorial for a space that not only is sacred but also is bounded by buildings that don't exist, was no easy task. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. (LMDC) also put forth many rules and requirements that had to be followed. This made the task even harder. I also have to admit, that even though I've designed theatrical sets, I am not an architect nor an artist, so creating a presentation board was the ultimate challenge. Being a writer, first and foremost, I believe I relied too heavily upon the written word to describe my entry.
 
Be that as it may, I didn't make the finals but have no regrets. I had never entered a memorial contest so this gave me an opportunity to experience a new creative challenge. I spent a large amount of time gathering all the information I could as to what the families and loved ones of the 9/11 victims wanted in a memorial (I even listened to the whole three hour open forum that was held at the end of May). I felt I covered all the bases in regards to their wishes and from the reactions to the 8 that were finally chosen, I know I had the right ideas down.
 
So let me start out by presenting what the LMDC required of all entrants. Then I will give you my design statement (an abbreviated version, since the entry had to refer to numerous items on the drawings which I can't reproduce here). And finally my ground plan and sketches.
 
The LMDC Requirements
 
THE MEMORIAL MISSION STATEMENT
 
Remember and honor the thousands of innocent men, women, and children murdered by terrorists in the horrific attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001.
Respect this place made sacred through tragic loss.
Recognize the endurance of those who survived, the courage of those who risked their lives to save others, and the compassion of all who supported us in our darkest hours.
May the lives remembered, the deeds recognized, and the spirit reawakened be eternal beacons, which reaffirm respect for life, strengthen our resolve to preserve freedom, and inspire an end to hatred, ignorance and intolerance.
 

PROGRAM GUIDING PRINCIPLES
The memorial is to:

* Embody the goals and spirit of the mission statement;
* Convey the magnitude of personal and physical loss at this location;
* Acknowledge all those who aided in rescue, recovery and healing;
* Respect and enhance the sacred quality of the overall site and the space designated for the memorial;
* Encourage reflection and contemplation;
* Evoke the historical significance and worldwide impact of September 11, 2001;
* Create an original and powerful statement of enduring and universal symbolism;
* Inspire and engage people to learn more about the events and impact of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993; and
* Evolve over time.

 
5 physical program elements
The memorial should:
 
Recognize each individual who was a victim of the attacks [1]
* Victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania
* Victims of the February 26, 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center
Provide space for contemplation
* An area for quiet visitation and contemplation [2]
* An area for families and loved ones of victims [3]
* Separate accessible space to serve as a final resting-place for the unidentified remains from the World Trade Center site [4]
Create a unique and powerful setting that will
* Be distinct from other memorial structures like a museum or visitor center
* Make visible the footprints of the original World Trade Center towers [5]
* Include appropriate transitions or approaches to, or within, the memorial
Convey historic authenticity
The memorial or its surrounding areas may include:
* Surviving original elements
* Preservation of existing conditions of the World Trade Center site
* Allowances for public ceremonies and celebrations
 
My design statement
 
MEMORY SPACE
 
September 11 created not only the Pit but a vortex, an epicenter of sorrow and grief, that will be felt down through the generations. No human memorial will ever be able to contain it for this epicenter is comprised of the thousands of souls dying, crying in anguish as the towers fell, and the thousands who survived carrying the memory of loss with them for all time.  At best, human hands can only try to modify this barren landscape with images that speak to the memory space of a collective consciousness that was there, saw it, felt it happen. And pass on to the next generation, like pieces of itinerant DNA, the strands of what had occurred in this hallowed space, now known as Ground Zero. 

For that reason, I have made an effort to base my design and incorporate as many elements as possible taken from Ground Zero over the last 21 months. I have also looked over and been inspired by photos I have taken and images I have collected in relation to 9/11. These images showed me that without prompting, without conscious planning, we have already created memorials that speak to the heart of our pain. They, too, have been my inspiration. We also have images of objects, that in just one glance, bring back the horror of the first 24 hours and the desperation and despair of the following months. Who can ever forget the South Tower façade, rising from the rubble like some defiant gothic cathedral, or the crossbeam cross raised above the pile inspiring hope and fueling the recovery team with faith?
 
I have also realized that any design must also take into account an angle of viewing not normally present to a memorial space. The location of the 4.6 acres deep within clusters of proposed buildings will make it possible for people to view the memorial from above. Something that they view from this bird's eye location must also speak to them, in a quick shorthand way. Therefore, I have created a plaza in the large open space between the proposed buildings, the tower footprints and the Liberty St entrance ramp as a unifying symbol that can be viewed from above. Like rays of the sun, pathways will emanate from a central area of concentric circles within which is mounted the Crushed Globe. This is Survivors' Plaza, named for the survivors who tie together all the other memory spaces, all the other architectural dialogs within this site. It is also a symbol of hope, the globe survived against all odd, as did those human survivors, who now walk forward in time and continue to recount the story as it unfolded that day.
 
SPEAKING TO THE MISSION STATEMENT AND MEMORIAL PROGRAM PRINCIPLES
 
How does one "remember?" Memory is a process of connections. It is what we have contained within minds along with stimulus from the outside. To remember the thousands of people who died in the horrific attacks of Feb 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 they each must be placed in their proper context. My decision has been to locate the names in different areas of the site, not to be misconstrued as establishing any sort of hierarchy, but as an aid for those who visit to learn more about them then just their names.

The endurance of those who survived is represented by the crushed globe at the heart of the Survivors' Plaza. The courage of those who risked their lives to save others, the compassion of all who supported us in our darkest hours will be portrayed in the Helping Hands mural.
 
The plaza pathways radiating from the Crushed Globe will be emblazoned with great and famous quotes. Quotes that will reaffirm respect for life, strengthen our resolve to preserve freedom and inspire an end to hatred, ignorance and intolerance.
 
At the center of each tower footprint will be a beacon to represent the sprits of those no longer with us. The North Tower's will be an Eternal Flame placed in the center of the Enshrined Debris. The South Tower's will be an intense spotlight, focused heavenward and located dead center surrounded by the Walls of Names.
 
How can a design convey the magnitude of the personal and physical loss that occurred at this location? The Crossbeam Cross and the Tower's façade are the two images we have come to identify with this horror. They will have a prominent position in this design.
 
Along with the numerous walls of names, and the Enshrined Debris, wanderers into this space will have their memory touched and jolted by these symbols. Joined with these symbols, will be a Grieving Space for the friends and families of the missing, these all will convey the magnitude of personal and physical loss at this location.

A space in the South Tower footprint near the proposed waterfall will be set aside for reflection and contemplation. It will have an area screened off by foliage, another area where one can sit and look outward onto the plaza, and a third area where one can view a history of the WTC.
 
To evoke the historical significance and worldwide impact of September 11, there will be a Wall of Flags of each nation placed on the side of the ramp facing the slurry wall. With each flag will be placed a plaque that lists the number of citizens lost.
 
To learn more about the events of Feb 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 there will be at the south side of the South Tower footprint a series of panels similar to the ones now mounted on the viewing wall. They will start with the history of the WTC and then describe the events of those two attacks. On the Liberty Wall, will be panels describing the events that took place outside of the World Trade Center acreage: in the air, in Pennsylvania and in the Pentagon.
                        (c) 2004 Leona M Seufert