I lost.

For clarification: the competition was ONLY for the memorial, not for the replacement of the towers. The 'pink' crystaline structures around the edge were part of Daniel Liebeskinds original design. He dictated that the open pit was the area for the memorial.

My contribution is only the cable-veil with the names and everything below it.


W O R L D T R A D E C E N T E R M E M O R I A L


One of the most precious commodities which New York City has, and which is being offered by the builders of the World Trade Center for this memorial, is open space. Could this space remain just that?-- space that cannot be occupied by buildings or pedestrians, free from the pressure and pace of everyday life in New York City, an oasis of stillness and peace? I would like to give the victims of the February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks their own plaza, at street level, which would always be empty and could never be trod upon by another person, symbolizing both the vacancy caused by the victims’ suddenly ended lives and the immediate and lasting precariousness the attacks created for America and the world.

The new Plaza is formed by closely spaced thin cables that span the entire memorial site--with the exception of the two World Trade Center tower footprints--starting at the edge of and continuing the plane of the sidewalk which surrounds it. Together with sunken areas on the lower level, the towers’ earlier envelopes are recalled in three-dimensional forms created by defined voids, and free from any built vertical elements.

The names of all of the victims are formed by individual 6-inch letters of aluminum or carbon, threaded between the cables and grouped together alphabetically, according to the year and place of their deaths. The letters are hung horizontally, facing down, so that they can only be read from below.

Approaching the memorial, the viewer will see only a large, empty, unoccupied plaza at street level, the cables and the names forming a relatively closed plane when viewed from a distance. As the viewer moves closer to the site and around it, the plane becomes more transparent as the angle of view becomes more vertical, and the lower level becomes more visible. For the viewer who remains at plaza level, the groups of names are purely a simple graphic symbol, emphasizing the total loss of life from the attacks. As the viewer walks down a ramp, however, the single names begin to become visible, now emerging out of the groups, emphasizing the individual loss of life.

The individual names can only be viewed by looking up --an act that was common here especially before and during the attacks, and the city can now only be seen through this veil of names. They are omnipresent. Each section of building, cloud, and tree is embossed with names. The way one sees the world has changed because these people died.

This diaphanous veil of names also allows visitors to the lower memorial area to be alone with their thoughts, offering as it does a protective screen, subtly separating the viewers at street-level from those below.

The impact which the memorial exerts on the viewer thus deepens, moving from a sense of corporate loss to include individual human grief as well, as the viewer physically descends into the space once occupied by the lower levels of the World Trade Center towers, now laid open to the sky.

On the lower level is a large bas-relief map of the world, our common home. This map speaks of our essential oneness, and of the sense of responsibility to the entire world which must underlie our daily actions. It is also a teaching tool, both showing visitors the 92 countries from which the victims came, and documenting the political boundaries existing at the time of the attacks. The map is bronze, and these 92 countries are distinguished by a different surface treatment. Visitors can walk over the map and place flowers, pictures and other mementoes on the places of the world where the victims originated. Over time, these places will become polished and worn, a change testifying to their uniqueness. As the boundaries of the map are slightly raised, visitors can sit along the edges. The orientation of the map corresponds to the true compass points. The names are also on this true east-west axis, so that while reading the names one looks due north, and not into the sun.

The relationship between the world map and the names overhead is complex. The tension under which the attacks put the world, as well as the shadow which was cast over the life which we knew, are literally translated by the tensioned cables above and the names that cast a shadow on the world below. The cables themselves are anchored into the sidewalk level upon which the viewers at street level stand, stressing the role of the city in upholding the memory and honor of those who died and helped. The living city thus forms the foundation for the memorial.
The lower memorial area is variously raised approximately 3-6 feet above the concrete pad to allow for plantings and different surface treatments. The footprints of the two towers are outlined by linear pools of water, an element symbolizing life and renewal. One crosses the pools into the interior space of the footprints via flat bridges or by walking over the areas of the map which extend into the southern footprint. These points can be utilized for a controlled access, when deemed necessary. Located in the northern footprint is a mausoleum within a sunken area which one reaches via a series of descending stepped levels, or along a pair of ramps bordered by 7 winter-hardy almond trees (Prunus dulcis). Almond trees are the first trees to bloom after winter, symbolizing vigilance and giving hope. The mausoleum opens on to a larger, secluded area where ceremonies can be held. The elliptical form of the mausoleum is a universal symbol of fall and renewal. Visitors can go here to be alone, protected from the weather by the building above, and shielded by wall planes from other visitors as well as pedestrians on the sidewalk above or underground passageway adjourning.

The Liberty Wall is covered by a variety of climbing plants which bloom at various times in the year (clematis, honeysuckle, roses, wisteria) and whose color changes brilliantly in the fall (Virginia Creeper). During the winter, the vines will be bare, showing the cycle of life, and encouraging one to look towards the future.

The primary floor in the lower memorial area is made of parallel rows of locally quarried cut slate, a beautiful, noble, sedimentary material that was once plant life, whereas the floors of the footprints consist of crushed slate.

The individual cables, running parallel to each other over a length of maximum 350’, are pre-stressed to a very high degree such that the sag due to their dead-weight and the weight of the letters is minimized to less than 15’’. The letters are supported by the two neighboring cables.

The cables are preferably stressed from one end, either by a turnbuckle or hydraulic jack, which guarantees that forces and geometry of the cables can be exactly installed. The cables should be designed so that they will be nearly maintenance-free; therefore the cross-section will be built of stainless steel, alternatively of carbon, aramid or any other high-strength synthetic fibers. The technically required minimum cable diameter will be only in the order of 3/8’’ to 7/16’’.

Along the edges of the footprints, the cable forces are collected by filigree steel trusses in order to keep the interior area ‘open’. Only a few thicker cables, arranged in a rectangular grid of 20’ by 20’ inside the trusses, balance the collected forces between the outlying footprint edges.

This memorial remembers all of the victims of the terrorist attacks equally. At the same time, it recognizes the varying perspectives of those who will visit the memorial, and seeks to respond to their different needs. The remembrance of those who died, and of these tragic events, becomes an impetus, as visitors move freely across the map’s national boundaries, to embrace our one humanity, to draw comfort and strength from widely shared symbols of renewal, and, again and again, to look up, in a universal act of longing and hope.

Tags:   911 memorial nyc competition schroeer schroeer-heiermann pencil drawing zeichnung colored schlaich bergermann

© All Rights Reserved

view large

For clarification: the competition was ONLY for the memorial, not for the replacement of the towers. The 'pink' crystaline structures around the edge were part of Daniel Liebeskinds original design. He dictated that the open pit was the area for the memorial.

My contribution is only the cable-veil with the names and everything below it.



W O R L D T R A D E C E N T E R M E M O R I A L


One of the most precious commodities which New York City has, and which is being offered by the builders of the World Trade Center for this memorial, is open space. Could this space remain just that?-- space that cannot be occupied by buildings or pedestrians, free from the pressure and pace of everyday life in New York City, an oasis of stillness and peace? I would like to give the victims of the February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks their own plaza, at street level, which would always be empty and could never be trod upon by another person, symbolizing both the vacancy caused by the victims’ suddenly ended lives and the immediate and lasting precariousness the attacks created for America and the world.

The new Plaza is formed by closely spaced thin cables that span the entire memorial site--with the exception of the two World Trade Center tower footprints--starting at the edge of and continuing the plane of the sidewalk which surrounds it. Together with sunken areas on the lower level, the towers’ earlier envelopes are recalled in three-dimensional forms created by defined voids, and free from any built vertical elements.

The names of all of the victims are formed by individual 6-inch letters of aluminum or carbon, threaded between the cables and grouped together alphabetically, according to the year and place of their deaths. The letters are hung horizontally, facing down, so that they can only be read from below.

Approaching the memorial, the viewer will see only a large, empty, unoccupied plaza at street level, the cables and the names forming a relatively closed plane when viewed from a distance. As the viewer moves closer to the site and around it, the plane becomes more transparent as the angle of view becomes more vertical, and the lower level becomes more visible. For the viewer who remains at plaza level, the groups of names are purely a simple graphic symbol, emphasizing the total loss of life from the attacks. As the viewer walks down a ramp, however, the single names begin to become visible, now emerging out of the groups, emphasizing the individual loss of life.

The individual names can only be viewed by looking up --an act that was common here especially before and during the attacks, and the city can now only be seen through this veil of names. They are omnipresent. Each section of building, cloud, and tree is embossed with names. The way one sees the world has changed because these people died.

This diaphanous veil of names also allows visitors to the lower memorial area to be alone with their thoughts, offering as it does a protective screen, subtly separating the viewers at street-level from those below.

The impact which the memorial exerts on the viewer thus deepens, moving from a sense of corporate loss to include individual human grief as well, as the viewer physically descends into the space once occupied by the lower levels of the World Trade Center towers, now laid open to the sky.

On the lower level is a large bas-relief map of the world, our common home. This map speaks of our essential oneness, and of the sense of responsibility to the entire world which must underlie our daily actions. It is also a teaching tool, both showing visitors the 92 countries from which the victims came, and documenting the political boundaries existing at the time of the attacks. The map is bronze, and these 92 countries are distinguished by a different surface treatment. Visitors can walk over the map and place flowers, pictures and other mementoes on the places of the world where the victims originated. Over time, these places will become polished and worn, a change testifying to their uniqueness. As the boundaries of the map are slightly raised, visitors can sit along the edges. The orientation of the map corresponds to the true compass points. The names are also on this true east-west axis, so that while reading the names one looks due north, and not into the sun.

The relationship between the world map and the names overhead is complex. The tension under which the attacks put the world, as well as the shadow which was cast over the life which we knew, are literally translated by the tensioned cables above and the names that cast a shadow on the world below. The cables themselves are anchored into the sidewalk level upon which the viewers at street level stand, stressing the role of the city in upholding the memory and honor of those who died and helped. The living city thus forms the foundation for the memorial.
The lower memorial area is variously raised approximately 3-6 feet above the concrete pad to allow for plantings and different surface treatments. The footprints of the two towers are outlined by linear pools of water, an element symbolizing life and renewal. One crosses the pools into the interior space of the footprints via flat bridges or by walking over the areas of the map which extend into the southern footprint. These points can be utilized for a controlled access, when deemed necessary. Located in the northern footprint is a mausoleum within a sunken area which one reaches via a series of descending stepped levels, or along a pair of ramps bordered by 7 winter-hardy almond trees (Prunus dulcis). Almond trees are the first trees to bloom after winter, symbolizing vigilance and giving hope. The mausoleum opens on to a larger, secluded area where ceremonies can be held. The elliptical form of the mausoleum is a universal symbol of fall and renewal. Visitors can go here to be alone, protected from the weather by the building above, and shielded by wall planes from other visitors as well as pedestrians on the sidewalk above or underground passageway adjourning.

The Liberty Wall is covered by a variety of climbing plants which bloom at various times in the year (clematis, honeysuckle, roses, wisteria) and whose color changes brilliantly in the fall (Virginia Creeper). During the winter, the vines will be bare, showing the cycle of life, and encouraging one to look towards the future.

The primary floor in the lower memorial area is made of parallel rows of locally quarried cut slate, a beautiful, noble, sedimentary material that was once plant life, whereas the floors of the footprints consist of crushed slate.

The individual cables, running parallel to each other over a length of maximum 350’, are pre-stressed to a very high degree such that the sag due to their dead-weight and the weight of the letters is minimized to less than 15’’. The letters are supported by the two neighboring cables.

The cables are preferably stressed from one end, either by a turnbuckle or hydraulic jack, which guarantees that forces and geometry of the cables can be exactly installed. The cables should be designed so that they will be nearly maintenance-free; therefore the cross-section will be built of stainless steel, alternatively of carbon, aramid or any other high-strength synthetic fibers. The technically required minimum cable diameter will be only in the order of 3/8’’ to 7/16’’.

Along the edges of the footprints, the cable forces are collected by filigree steel trusses in order to keep the interior area ‘open’. Only a few thicker cables, arranged in a rectangular grid of 20’ by 20’ inside the trusses, balance the collected forces between the outlying footprint edges.

This memorial remembers all of the victims of the terrorist attacks equally. At the same time, it recognizes the varying perspectives of those who will visit the memorial, and seeks to respond to their different needs. The remembrance of those who died, and of these tragic events, becomes an impetus, as visitors move freely across the map’s national boundaries, to embrace our one humanity, to draw comfort and strength from widely shared symbols of renewal, and, again and again, to look up, in a universal act of longing and hope.

Tags:   911 memorial competition wtc nyc schroeer schroeer-heiermann schlaich bergermann

© All Rights Reserved

View large. Please.

For clarification: the competition was ONLY for the memorial, not for the replacement of the towers. The 'pink' crystaline structures around the edge were part of Daniel Liebeskinds original design. He dictated that the open pit was the area for the memorial.

My contribution is only the cable-veil with the names and everything below it.

(I still lost)


If you have the time, give me some feedback--we never found out at which point we were weeded out, so this could have been 10th place or 5500th place.





W O R L D T R A D E C E N T E R M E M O R I A L


One of the most precious commodities which New York City has, and which is being offered by the builders of the World Trade Center for this memorial, is open space. Could this space remain just that?-- space that cannot be occupied by buildings or pedestrians, free from the pressure and pace of everyday life in New York City, an oasis of stillness and peace? I would like to give the victims of the February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks their own plaza, at street level, which would always be empty and could never be trod upon by another person, symbolizing both the vacancy caused by the victims’ suddenly ended lives and the immediate and lasting precariousness the attacks created for America and the world.

The new Plaza is formed by closely spaced thin cables that span the entire memorial site--with the exception of the two World Trade Center tower footprints--starting at the edge of and continuing the plane of the sidewalk which surrounds it. Together with sunken areas on the lower level, the towers’ earlier envelopes are recalled in three-dimensional forms created by defined voids, and free from any built vertical elements.

The names of all of the victims are formed by individual 6-inch letters of aluminum or carbon, threaded between the cables and grouped together alphabetically, according to the year and place of their deaths. The letters are hung horizontally, facing down, so that they can only be read from below.

Approaching the memorial, the viewer will see only a large, empty, unoccupied plaza at street level, the cables and the names forming a relatively closed plane when viewed from a distance. As the viewer moves closer to the site and around it, the plane becomes more transparent as the angle of view becomes more vertical, and the lower level becomes more visible. For the viewer who remains at plaza level, the groups of names are purely a simple graphic symbol, emphasizing the total loss of life from the attacks. As the viewer walks down a ramp, however, the single names begin to become visible, now emerging out of the groups, emphasizing the individual loss of life.

The individual names can only be viewed by looking up --an act that was common here especially before and during the attacks, and the city can now only be seen through this veil of names. They are omnipresent. Each section of building, cloud, and tree is embossed with names. The way one sees the world has changed because these people died.

This diaphanous veil of names also allows visitors to the lower memorial area to be alone with their thoughts, offering as it does a protective screen, subtly separating the viewers at street-level from those below.

The impact which the memorial exerts on the viewer thus deepens, moving from a sense of corporate loss to include individual human grief as well, as the viewer physically descends into the space once occupied by the lower levels of the World Trade Center towers, now laid open to the sky.

On the lower level is a large bas-relief map of the world, our common home. This map speaks of our essential oneness, and of the sense of responsibility to the entire world which must underlie our daily actions. It is also a teaching tool, both showing visitors the 92 countries from which the victims came, and documenting the political boundaries existing at the time of the attacks. The map is bronze, and these 92 countries are distinguished by a different surface treatment. Visitors can walk over the map and place flowers, pictures and other mementoes on the places of the world where the victims originated. Over time, these places will become polished and worn, a change testifying to their uniqueness. As the boundaries of the map are slightly raised, visitors can sit along the edges. The orientation of the map corresponds to the true compass points. The names are also on this true east-west axis, so that while reading the names one looks due north, and not into the sun.

The relationship between the world map and the names overhead is complex. The tension under which the attacks put the world, as well as the shadow which was cast over the life which we knew, are literally translated by the tensioned cables above and the names that cast a shadow on the world below. The cables themselves are anchored into the sidewalk level upon which the viewers at street level stand, stressing the role of the city in upholding the memory and honor of those who died and helped. The living city thus forms the foundation for the memorial.
The lower memorial area is variously raised approximately 3-6 feet above the concrete pad to allow for plantings and different surface treatments. The footprints of the two towers are outlined by linear pools of water, an element symbolizing life and renewal. One crosses the pools into the interior space of the footprints via flat bridges or by walking over the areas of the map which extend into the southern footprint. These points can be utilized for a controlled access, when deemed necessary. Located in the northern footprint is a mausoleum within a sunken area which one reaches via a series of descending stepped levels, or along a pair of ramps bordered by 7 winter-hardy almond trees (Prunus dulcis). Almond trees are the first trees to bloom after winter, symbolizing vigilance and giving hope. The mausoleum opens on to a larger, secluded area where ceremonies can be held. The elliptical form of the mausoleum is a universal symbol of fall and renewal. Visitors can go here to be alone, protected from the weather by the building above, and shielded by wall planes from other visitors as well as pedestrians on the sidewalk above or underground passageway adjourning.

The Liberty Wall is covered by a variety of climbing plants which bloom at various times in the year (clematis, honeysuckle, roses, wisteria) and whose color changes brilliantly in the fall (Virginia Creeper). During the winter, the vines will be bare, showing the cycle of life, and encouraging one to look towards the future.

The primary floor in the lower memorial area is made of parallel rows of locally quarried cut slate, a beautiful, noble, sedimentary material that was once plant life, whereas the floors of the footprints consist of crushed slate.

The individual cables, running parallel to each other over a length of maximum 350’, are pre-stressed to a very high degree such that the sag due to their dead-weight and the weight of the letters is minimized to less than 15’’. The letters are supported by the two neighboring cables.

The cables are preferably stressed from one end, either by a turnbuckle or hydraulic jack, which guarantees that forces and geometry of the cables can be exactly installed. The cables should be designed so that they will be nearly maintenance-free; therefore the cross-section will be built of stainless steel, alternatively of carbon, aramid or any other high-strength synthetic fibers. The technically required minimum cable diameter will be only in the order of 3/8’’ to 7/16’’.

Along the edges of the footprints, the cable forces are collected by filigree steel trusses in order to keep the interior area ‘open’. Only a few thicker cables, arranged in a rectangular grid of 20’ by 20’ inside the trusses, balance the collected forces between the outlying footprint edges.

This memorial remembers all of the victims of the terrorist attacks equally. At the same time, it recognizes the varying perspectives of those who will visit the memorial, and seeks to respond to their different needs. The remembrance of those who died, and of these tragic events, becomes an impetus, as visitors move freely across the map’s national boundaries, to embrace our one humanity, to draw comfort and strength from widely shared symbols of renewal, and, again and again, to look up, in a universal act of longing and hope.

Tags:   911 memorial competition nyc wtc schroeer schroeer-heiermann wettbewerb perspective drawing zeichnung new york two point 2 schlaich bergermann

© All Rights Reserved