Photo credit: Michael Hnatov
Accession Number: C.2021.58.11
Dimensions: 40 in X 30 in X 1/4 in
Dimensions (Metric): 101.6 cm X 76.2 cm X 2.54 cm
Credit Line: Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum, Courtesy LMDC
Reflecting Absence
Description
Foam core submission board designed by architect Michael Arad (b. 1969) for the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition, 2003. Arad’s winning entry (no. 790532), titled Reflecting Absence, was one of 5,201 submissions that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation received. This competition board features artistic renderings of the outdoor memorial site with its twin reflecting pools and the underground space beneath the pools. It also includes diagrams showing an overview of the site’s layout and the walkway path as it descends below the memorial.
The descriptive text on the board reads:
This design seeks to emphasize the void left by the destruction of the twin towers, a void that is both physical and emotional. The footprints of the two towers are marked by creating two square depressions thirty feet deep in a flat field. At the bottom of each depression is a reflecting pool that is fed by a constant sheet of water that cascades down the four sides of each square pit. Each reflecting pool’s surface is punctured by a square opening into which the water cascades further down, seemingly into a depthless void.
Visitors to the site can walk around each void, gazing down at the pools below them, or descend to the water level through a tunnel-like structure. Those who do, find themselves in a dark and cool space, walking down a series of stairs and ramps, the sound of water falling growing ever louder. At the bottom of their descent they emerge behind a curtain of water as it strikes the surface of the pool.
At this point the visitors find the names of the victims of the attack on the world trade center inscribed on a low stone parapet, the only element (other than the sheet of water falling from above) standing between them and the pool. As they stand there contemplating the tragedy that had occurred at this site, the sheer size of each space, and the length of the ribbon of names circling each pool, serve to physically underscore the enormity of the destruction.
After circling one of the memorial pools visitors can walk across to its twin while remaining underground, or return to the surface by a set of stairs and ramps that are similar to the ones they entered the memorial through. Their passage is again marked by darkness and a sudden return to light as the sound of water fades behind them and they emerge back upon the surface.
With respect to the master plan in the competition brief, this scheme suggests an alternative view of how the site can be integrated into the fabric of the city. It suggests continuity by remaining at street level, with a large open square that will become defined as buildings rise around it. The large open field should be punctuated only by the footprints of the two memorial pools, while other buildings that are associated with commemorating the events of September 11, such as a museum or visitor center, can be placed across the street from the open square in one of the adjacent blocks. This will allow the site to function both as a sacred memorial ground for those who descend to the memorial pools, and as a large urban plaza that will benefit the residents of the city in their everyday lives as they cross the site on their way to work or play.
Historical Notes
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) administered the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. Through this competition, the jury selected a design for a single memorial that remembers and honors all loss of life on September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993. The LMDC received an enormous global outpouring of ideas representing 63 nations, with 13,683 registrants and 5,201 Memorial submissions meeting the entry criteria. The jury selected Reflecting Absence by New York-based architect Michael Arad. He developed the final design with California-based landscape architect Peter Walker.