'Long shot' design selected as WTC memorial winner - World Trade Center Memorial competition

Real Estate Weekly, Jan 14, 2004 by Peter Moore

The "long shot" design for the World Trade Center Memorial competition wound up the winner.

"Reflecting Absence," a design that places two reflecting pools in the footprints of the Twin Towers, was picked over the two original favorites, "Garden of Lights" and "Passages of Light," both of which were judged too impractical by the 13-member jury.

The design was assembled by Michael Arad, a relatively unknown East Village architect who is currently working on the design for two stations for the New York City Police Department. He was assisted by landscape design architect Peter Walker.

An Israeli native, Arad is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Georgia Tech's College of Architecture. He recently joined the staff of the New York City Housing Authority.

"I am very honored and overwhelmed by the news that the jury has selected my design," Arad said in a statement released by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. "I hope that I will be able to honor the memory of all those who perished, and create a place where we may all grieve and find meaning."

Walker said the architects were pleased to work with the families of the 9/11 victims.

"I want to thank the families; working on this memorial will give us the chance to express the sympathy and admiration we feel for all those who suffered from the events of Sept. 11 and the 1993 bombing," Walker said.

Not all the families were in agreement. The Coalition of 9/11 Families, who along with former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, have criticized every finalist design, called the chosen memorial "unacceptable."

The two pools are connected by an underground passageway where visitors can light candles. Adjacent to the passageway lies a chamber where the unidentified victims lay buried. The site allows access to bedrock in the area where the North Tower once stood.

Only family members of 9/11 victims will be allowed to visit the burial chamber. The LMDC released a statement saying the memorial "has made the gaping voids left by the towers' destruction the primary symbol of loss."

The original sparse appearance of the memorial has also been enhanced by lush vegetation.

The statement continued: "While these voids still remain empty and inconsolable, the surrounding plaza's design has evolved to include teeming groves of trees, traditional affirmations of life and rebirth. The result is a memorial that expresses both the incalculable loss of life and its regeneration."

The LMDC praised the sensitivity and practicality of the monument, which was the only design not to incorporate key aspects of Daniel Libeskind's Freedom Tower design.

The groups statement continued: "Not only does this memorial creatively address its mandate to preserve the footprints, recognize individual names and provide access to bedrock, but it also wonderfully reconnects this site to the fabric of its urban community."

Arad and Walker were said to have incorporated several revisions into the design. A revised version of the design, incorporating the trees and other trees, was scheduled to be unveiled this week.

Libeskind was said to have met with Arad to discuss incorporation of the Trade Center's legendary slurry wall in the design.