New Jersey's 9/11 Memorial

Art in America, Sept, 2004 by David Ebony

Governor James McGreevey of New Jersey recently announced that a proposal by architect Frederic Schwartz has won the state's September 11th Memorial Competition. Titled Empty Sky, the project is a tribute to the nearly 700 New Jersey residents killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The New York-based architect was a member of the "Think" team of architects and designers who were finalists in the competition for the new World Trade Center [see "Front Page," Feb. '03], which was ultimately won by Daniel Libeskind. Schwartz was also selected earlier this year to design a 9/11 memorial for Westchester County's victims.

Produced in collaboration with Massachusetts-based architect Jessica Jamroz, the design was selected from 320 initial proposals, narrowed down to six finalists, and chosen by a panel of 12 family members of victims. The design features two parallel, stainless-steel walls, each 30 feet high and 200 feet long (the width of each WTC tower). Symbolizing the Twin Towers, the walls will be engraved with the names of each victim in 4-inch letters. The walls are to be situated 16 feet apart on a 1.6-acre grassy hill in Jersey City's Liberty State Park, directly across the Hudson River from Lower Manhattan.

Certain elements of the approximately $7-million project recall both Maya Lin's Vietnam Memorial and recent sculptures by Richard Serra. Similarly, two powerful, vertical beams of light that will illuminate Empty Sky at night are reminiscent of Lower Manhattan's temporary 9/11 memorial Tribute in Light. Among the unique features of Empty Sky is a grove of dogwood trees outlined with violets, the state flower, which will surround two large steel beams that were pulled from the WTC wreckage. A specific construction schedule and completion date have yet to be announced.