WORLD TRADE CENTER MEMORIAL COMPETITION

This was the largest design competition in history with over 5200 entries:
A grove of Trees engages a field of stones. At the north wall of the footprint of the North Tower stands The Wall Of Light, an illuminated glass wall inscribed with the names of those who died. From here emerges the grid of trees of the world, at one end dense, private and contemplative, at the other open and engaging.

The stones of the world begin at the waterfall and the footprint of the South Tower, dense enough to pave the ground, they move across the site to engage the trees, rising from the ground and separating. They become both resting places and objects of contemplation.

The stones and trees represent the number of lives lost, 3022, and symbolize our history and our future. When the stones and trees engage each other, representations of life and death are brought into proximity with one another to create a condition that transcends both.

As the two grids open up and dissolve, the trees meet the stones to produce an entirely new condition resulting in a space that is simultaneously open, community-oriented and contemplative. Here, at this confluence of the footprints, a simple meditative space occurs: a stone for sitting beneath the shelter of a tree.

By merging these two systems to create a unique third space, this memorial attempts to overcome the binary oppositions that increasingly color our perceptions of the world. The impact of the park is a result of that relationship.

This project was in collaboration with Chris Beccone and Angel Cantu.