The memorial, designed by architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker, has national status, so it is dedicated not only to those killed in the World Trade Center (not only in 2001, but also in the 1993 terrorist attack, when a mined truck exploded at the foot of the North Tower), but also in the attack on the Pentagon and the crash of a hijacked plane in Pennsylvania.
The names of all 2,983 dead are engraved on bronze panels that frame two huge rectangular "gaps": they are located where the twin towers stood. Almost from the very beginning of the long and difficult reconstruction process of the WTC, it was decided that this space should remain free of any commercial establishments; the memorial includes not only the "prints" of the bases of the towers, but also the surrounding plaza with a total area of 3.24 hectares.
From under the bronze framing along the perimeter of each of the "squares" streams of water fall down: first to a depth of 10 m, where a shallow pond is located, and then another 10 m - into a square hole in the center of its bottom. This grand spectacle led one of the critics to compare these falls with the "cubic Niagara". This scope to a certain extent distracts from the main function of any memorial: to tune in to reflection, to quietly help remember the victims.
Paved with gray granite, the plaza with granite blocks-benches is planted with 442 two-colored oaks of the same height - 11 feet (3.35 m). So far, construction is underway around the complex, and visitors are admitted with free tickets through the checkpoint, but after the completion of the work, it is assumed that the memorial will also become a public space where the townspeople can relax.
The main building for the memorial complex is its
museum (the official name of the site is the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum). It will be located under the plaza, in a space 21 m high. It was decided not to create the “Freedom Center” planned nearby, in order to avoid unnecessary political rhetoric. But in order to preserve the project created by the Snehetta bureau for him, it was decided to erect the building as an entrance pavilion of the museum. The pavilion and museum will open a year later, on September 11, 2012. The total budget of the memorial and museum is $ 700 million.
The situation with the rest of the buildings is less certain. As you know, the WTC began to be restored according to the project of Daniel Libeskind, but his symbolic "vision" did not stand the test of New York reality. The problem was that, despite the "loss" of a significant territory in favor of the memorial, it was necessary to restore in full all the office space that existed there before September 11, 2001. These are the terms of the agreement concluded with the city developer Larry Silverstein, who became the owner of the WTC (twin towers and 5 smaller buildings) shortly before the tragedy. Therefore, the rest of the territory had to be built up very densely with the most "efficient" buildings. But here the economic situation intervened, and so far only the former "Freedom Tower" is actively being built (now it is simply "WTC Tower 1", which, in addition to its name, also lost the symbolic height of 1776 feet (541 m) conceived by Libeskind - July 4, 1776 was adopted US Declaration of Independence: the tower will be slightly taller for technical reasons).
Also, the construction of a transport terminal according to the project of Santiago Calatrava is underway: despite the significant simplification of its concept (in particular, the "wings" of the floors will not be able to open on sunny days), the project budget amounted to more than $ 3 billion. The opening is scheduled for 2014.
The fate of the four office towers designed by Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Fumihiko Maki and the KPF bureau is still unclear: during the crisis, it turned out to be difficult for them to find tenants, and it is difficult to carry out such a construction without definite main clients. A performing arts center is also planned on the territory of the WTC, but its construction will begin only after 2014: its place is still occupied by a temporary transport hub.
