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 The
Endurance Memorial is a majestic testament to 9/11 which
consists of three main elements - the North and South
Tower footprints and the Memorial Fountain. These elements
are united on three separate levels, providing a multifaceted
experience and rewarding visual panorama.
Memorial components include a museum,
sanctuary, reflecting pools, observation decks and a
spectacular fountain. They create settings ranging from
the serene to the dramatic. The site plans and photo
images demonstrate that the Endurance Memorial is straightforward
and easily comprehended. It will be a source of splendor,
comfort and awe for both the one-time visitor and the
local resident.
The Endurance Memorial is inclusive while
simultaneously responding to many needs. It provides
layers of comfort to survivors and their families. It
provides an opportunity for equal recognition to the
victims, whether they be individuals, companies, rescue
units, airlines, government agencies, citizens from
other countries. It will also be an engrossing educational
tool which reaches out to the rest of the world with
a message of peace. Above all, visitors to the Endurance
Memorial will grasp the meaning of 9/11 for decades
and centuries to come.
Renewal and Remembrance are the Endurance
Memorial's key attributes. The Memorial Fountain serves
as a symbolic representation of the Twin Towers -- along
with the Pentagon and Shanksville, PA -- yet it remains
uniquely different in appearance and function. Architectural
objects of beauty like the fountain, sanctuary and Tower
facades create an inspiring testimonial to a day of
tragedy. They serve to both heal the wounds of the current
generation and provide a tangible reminder for future
generations.
Main Elements
- The memorial complex has three levels (garden, concourse,
street).
- The South Tower footprint contains a stand-alone
sanctuary with spherical dome, eternal flame, crypt,
meeting rooms and reflecting pools.
- The North Tower footprint contains a museum of artifacts
and memorabilia on the garden level, and reflecting
pools in the shape of the tower elevator banks on
the concourse level.
- A fountain at street level is the centerpiece of
the complex, shaped symbolically as the Twin Towers
and Pentagon, and surrounded by trees native to Shanksville,
PA.
- The fountain is at least 208 feet high and 208 feet
wide (the same dimensions as the Twin Towers' width:
208' X 208'). The upper pentagon pool may be 77 feet
3 ½ inches, the same height as The Pentagon.
- The fountain is constructed of green-tinted glass
and structural steel, and placed in a large pedestrian
plaza.
- Water flows down the sides of the towers to an upper
pentagon pool and cascades through 3,016 apertures
dedicated to the victims into a lower pool.
- Glass walls within the pedestrian plaza contain
all the names of the victims, of the companies leasing
space, and of the rescue units.
- Each fountain tower has four observation decks,
separately dedicated to the WTC employees, rescue
workers, airline crews/passengers and Pentagon employees.
[All victims, equal treatment]
- The fountain towers have stairways to the observation
decks, suggestive of the escape routes for the 1993
and 2001 WTC terrorist attacks.
- A circle of 51 columns supports the lower pentagon
pool, representing the nation united: 50 states and
Washington, DC.
- Blue laser beacons project from each tower, visible
from great distances after sundown.
- Salvaged tower facade is reinstalled on a portion
of the South Tower footprint.
- Reconstructed facade is installed on a portion of
the North Tower footprint.
- The memorial to the 1993 attack is reconstructed.
- Seven memorial columns to support the fountain's
plaza are dedicated to each WTC building ("Seven
Sacred Columns").
Main Attributes
- The memorial complex compliments
the Libeskind design.
- Proper homage is accorded the
Twin Tower footprints. The South Tower's sanctuary
provides a spiritual connection to this sacred space.
The North Tower's museum and elevator-bank reflecting
pools provide a tangible earthy connection.
- The complex has a verticality
that is appropriate for the WTC site. Elements such
as the observation decks mean visitors will interact
with the memorial on many levels, physically and psychologically.
- The memorial will interact with
the rest of the city with viewers looking into and
out of the complex from many angles. At night the
memorial's laser will signal its location from miles
away.
- An object of beauty and reflection,
the memorial is a fitting centerpiece to the World
Trade Centersite, now and for future generations.
- The fountain allows the Twin
Towers to be "rebuilt," a perfect solution
for two conflicting desires: to sanctify the site
and to demonstrate national resilience in the face
of terrorism.
- A fountain is appropriate since
water is symbolic of cleansing and renewal, and water
was used to extinguish the fires at all three locations.
- The fountain's interaction of
water and light is harmonious, healing, transcendental.
- The fountain's dynamic design
has a different appearance from every angle. Its design
is like a mandala that is symmetrical or asymmetrical
depending upon the viewing angle.
- Because the memorial's main elements
are glass, water and light, it will change in mood
and appearance depending on time of day, year, weather.
- It allows remnants of the WTC
facades to be re-erected or displayed in a museum
with other memorabilia.
- With passage of time the memorial's
sheer beauty will still beckon visitors to gather
at the site, including new generations of people who
did not witness September 11th.
- The events of September 11, 2001
demand a memorial to rival other significant national
monuments such as the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Vietnam
memorials.
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