World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition

The World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was an open, international memorial contest, initiated by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), as per the specifications of architect Daniel Libeskind, to design a World Trade Center Site Memorial (later renamed the World Trade Center Memorial) on a portion of the World Trade Center site. The Competition began April 28, 2003 and the winner—Michael Arad and Peter Walker's Reflecting Absence—was revealed January 14, 2004 in a press conference at Federal Hall in New York City. The contest garnered 5,201 entries from 63 nations and 49 US states out of 13,683 registrants from all 50 US states and 94 nations, making it the largest design competition in history.

History

2002

On March 5, 2002, Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) jointly announced plans for an interim memorial to the victims September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 World Trade Center attacks.

2003

On January 2, 2003, LMDC and Port Authority announced that a series of public meetings would take place to discuss a future World Trade Center Site Memorial.

The Selection Jury for the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition were announced on April 10. The Competition began on April 28, when the Guidelines were released, Registration was opened. The LMDC accepted questions from competitors between April 28 and May 18, which were answered on its website on May 23 and removed at the end of the competition. Potential entrants were given until May 29 to register for the stated purpose of gauging the volume of entires. On May 15, the LMDC announced that it had received registrants from all 50 U.S. states and 70 other nations; on May 30, the LMDC announced that 13,683 competitors had registered from 94 nations.

Submissions were accepted from registered entrants between June 9 and June 30. On July 17, the LMDC accounced that 5,201 submissions had been received, representing competitors from 49 U.S. states and 63 nations. The LMDC displayed the 8 finalists in the Winter Garden on November 19.

2004

On January 6, 2004 the Selection Jury named Michael Arad and Peter Walker's Reflecting Absence as the winning design, which was displayed publicly January 14.

On February 19, all 5,201 entries on its website were made available on the LMDC's website. On April 8, the LMDC announced the creation of an Advisory Committee to ensure that the Competition Guidelines are incorporated into the final design, which had undergone revision since January 14. On April 13, the LMDC announced that assosiate architect Davis Brody Bond would assist Arad and Walker with their final design.

Guidelines

There were five required "program elements":
* Recognize each individual who was a victim of the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 attacks
* Provide an area for quiet visitation and contemplation
* Provide an area for the families and loved ones of victims
* Provide a separate accessible space to serve as the final resting-place for the unidentified remains from the World Trade Center Site
* Make visible the footprints of the original World Trade Center Towers

In addition, entrants were expected to conform to the following "guiding principles":

* 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 designed for the memorial
* Encourage reflection and contemplation
* Evoke the historical significance of the 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
* Evolve over time

Entries were examined by "LMDC staff" prior to jury review to determine whether they met the competition requirements. Although the Jury was allowed to review the list of ineligible submissions, the LMDC itself was to make the final determination.

election Jury

The Jury was selected by the LMDC in consultation with the mayor and governor. It consisted mostly of architects and artists but also individuals with other affiliations:
* Paula Grant-Berry, victim family member, LMDC Families Advisory Council
* Susan K. Freedman, President of the Public Art Fund
* Vartan Gregorian, Ph. D., President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York
* Patricia Harris, Deputy Mayor for Administration for the City of New York
* Maya Lin, artist/architect, winner of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Design Competition
* Michael McKeon, Governor Pataki's Director of Communications, the Governor's chief liaison on September 11th issues to City Hall and family groups
* Julie Menin, President and Founder of Wall Street Rising
* Enrique Norten, architect
* Martin Puryear, artist
* Nancy Rosen, public artist
* Lowery Stokes Sims, Ph. D., Executive Director of the Studio Museum in Harlem
* Michael Van Valkenburgh, architect
* James E. Young, Ph. D., Professor & Chair of the Department of Judaic & Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Honorary Member:
*David Rockefeller philanthropist

The Finalists

The Jury selected 8 finalists:
* Norman Lee and Michael Lewis's "Votives in Suspension"
* Joseph Karadin and Hsin-Yi Wu's "Suspending Memory"
* Bradley Campbell and Matthias Neumann's "Lower Waters"
* Pierre David, Sean Corriel, and Jessica Kmetovic's "Garden of Lights"
* Gisela Baurmann, Sawad Brooks and Jonas Coersmeier's ""
* Toshio Sasaki's "Inversion of Light"
* Brian Strawn and Karla Sierralta's "Dual Memory"
* Michael Arad and Peter Walker's "Reflecting Absence"

Reflecting Absence

Michael Arad and Peter Walker's "Reflecting Absence" consists of a field of trees interrupted by two large voids containing recessed pools, marking the footprints of the Twin Towers. The deciduous trees are arranged in rows, forming informal clusters, clearings and groves. The park is at street level. Although the site is currently 30 feet below street level, it has not been decided where the earth will come from to fill the site. When the area was excavated to construct the World Trade Center, the earth was used to build Battery Park City, a neighboring residential community.

Two ramps lead down to each memorial pool where victims' names are listed in front of the curtain of water. After much controversy over how the names should be arranged, Arad and Walker decided to arrange them in a random order. It is possible that the names of Police officers and Firefighters will be marked by their respective shields.

The footprints are linked by an underground passageway which also leads to an alcove containing a small dais where visitors will be invited to light candles or leave artifacts and a small chamber to provide a space for future gatherings and memorial services. In the footprint of the North Tower, a large stone vessel will hold unidentified remains, in hopes that future scientific breakthroughs will allow their identification.

A portion of the Slurry Wall (approximately half of what Libeskind originally wanted to preserve), the wall designed to hold back the Hudson River will be maintained at street level.

Controversy

Some have argued that competition allowed very little room for creativity and that the 8 finalists chosen exhibited very little deviated from the design elements dictated in the guidelines. Many who disputed the selection of Daniel Libeskind, Governor Pataki's chosen architect, felt that the limited competition was designed to grant legitimacy to the overall site memorial plan although only 4.7 of the 16 acres to be reconstructed were opened to the competition.

Some have also claimed that the stringent guidelines, shortened time period for the competition, and/or the influence of political and economic elites have marginalized local discourses and imposes a specific interpretation of the events of September 11, 2001 onto the memorial site. Those under the age of 18 were excluded from entering the competition on the grounds that they could not enter into agreements with the LMDC.

ee also

* World Trade Center Memorial
* September 11, 2001 attacks
* Daniel Libeskind
* World Trade Center
* World Trade Center site

References

* Greenspan, Elizabeth. (2003). Spontaneous Memorials, Museums, and Public History: Memorialization of September 11, 2001 at the Pentagon. "Public Historian", 25(2), 129-132.
* Low, Setha M. (2004). The Memorialization of September 11: Dominant and local discourses on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. "American Ethnologist", 31, 326-339.
* Mitchell, K. (2003). Monuments, memorials, and the politics of memory. "Urban Geography", 24(5), 442-459.
* Rybczynski, Witold. (2004). Less is Less: Was minimalism the proper design response to commemorate September 11?. "Landscape Architecture", 94(3), 20-23.
* Sturken, Marita. (2004). The aesthetics of absence: Rebuilding Ground Zero. "American Ethnologist", 31, 311-325.

External links

* [http://wtcsitememorial.org World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition's Official Website]
* [http://www.renewnyc.org/ Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's Official Website]
* [http://wtcsitememorial.org/pdf/LMDC_Guidelines_english.pdf The Competition Guidelines]
* [http://wtcsitememorial.org/about_jury_txt.html Jury Statement]
* [http://wtcsitememorial.org/about_jury.html Jury Members]
* [http://wtcsitememorial.org/fin7.html Arad and Walker's "Reflecting Absence" Statement]
* [http://wtcsitememorial.org/ent/entI=790532.html Michael Arad's Entry]
* [http://wtcsitememorial.org/ent/entI=089924.html Peter Walker's Entry]