The National September 11 Memorial opened to the families of the victims
World Trade Center Memorial, October 2011
of the World Trade Center attacks on the 10th anniversary this year. The solemn space where visitors can remember and honor the thousands of lives lost during the 2001 and 1993 terrorist attacks - was opened to the public on September 12, 2011. Work continues on the below-grade museum.
Summary
Designed by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, the Reflecting Absence memorial consists of two voids on the sites of the twin towers' footprints. Surrounded by a forest of trees and lawn, each void will feature rings of cascading water falling into illuminated reflecting pools.
Adjacent to the two pools, a memorial museum will extend 100,000 square feet underground and will use artifacts and exhibits to tell the story of September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993. Visitors also will be able to view a section of the massive slurry wall that held back the Hudson River during the attacks.
More than 400 sweetgum and swamp white oak trees will be planted in the Memorial plaza. They were chosen partly because each fall around 9/11 they will turn an array of colors -- the oaks turn amber, golden brown and pink; the sweetgums turn orange with some red, purple and gold. The Callery Pear tree -- the only surviving tree from the original WTC site -- was replanted on the Memorial Plaza in December 2010.
The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation established to raise funds as well as build and operate the Memorial and Memorial Museum at the World Trade Center site.
In May 2011, the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum finalized the arrangement of all 2,982 names -- representing the men, women and children killed in the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 terrorist attacks -- that will appear on the World Trade Center Memorial site. The names arrangement is based on a system of “meaningful adjacencies” that reflect where the victims were on September 11, 2001, and relationships they shared with others who were lost that day.
Donations can be made at www.buildthememorial.org. The World Trade Center Memorial Foundation is a registered nonprofit organization, so any contribution is tax deductible.
On January 6, 2004, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) announced its selection of a design for a memorial at the World Trade Center site. Reflecting Absence was selected from more than 5,000 entrants from 63 nations.
Click here for answers to commonly asked construction questions.
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