|
In 2003, the Lower Manhattan Development Company announced an international competition for a memorial complex at the World Trade Center site. The Memorial should be an integral part of the bigger project, designed by Daniel Libeskind, and should occupy an empty area next to the Twin Towers' footprints ("Ground Zero"). |
 Presentation panel (original size 100X70cm). Reflections of Memory After the 11th of September disaster the pictures that had the strongest and the heaviest impression on us were not the planes crushing into the buildings, and not the Manhattan covered with a cloud of concrete ash, but the giant hollow filled with what WTC was and tiny excavators on its foreground. Ground Zero itself is a unique memorial. We were trying to preserve its` dignity and internity, and that was the reason that most of the memorial elements are placed either above or below its` level. Its` current state reflects the memory of the saddest day in the history of USA. Conceptually, we see Ground Zero as a mirror. What this mirror reflects? The city, as it was before the catastrophe, the destruction, the memory of those who cannot be returned, and a ray of hope on the remains of the disaster. The general design idea of the Memorial was to leave the Ground Zero untouched, continuing Daniel Libeskind` line [5], while leading a "superobject" within the site. The superobject is not necessarily connected to the existing planned architecture of the site. Its function is to apply on additional focus to the Ground Zero site, while leaving the latter unaffected. The Memorial consists of two similar-shaped, but functionally different volumes, symbolizing unity of contradiction. The main theme of the project is the memory - different aspects of it. We see each of the volumes as a "Memory Container". The upper Memory Container is a multimedia superobject, the main data container. Its` envelope is a screen of a convex shape, with "reflection" emerging on its surface. From outside one can see a plate-grass object, with an image of twin towers on it. The image is distorted with a spherical mirror, one image follows another. The upper Memory Container can also be transformed into a flat screen, which happens during different events at the Ground Zero, howling images and video clips t is projected on it. It also contains all the supporting facilities and services for those activities. The upper volume, supported by somehow chaotic construction (that partly connected to the survived Liberty wall of the site) is a metaphor of a fragile hope on the ruins of the disaster. The stage is located directly under the upper Memory Container. When not in use, it submerges onto Ground Zero level. The upper MC can only be observed from the outside, it is not accessible to the visitors. The lower Memory Container is an inversion of the upper one. It is empty, just like Ground Zero or Towers` footprints. (*See an additional explanation below) This part is reflecting an emotional side of memory in the project. This is a meditative place, where people should concentrate on what had been happened. [2] The lower Container is divided for levels that is including the level for family and loves one of victims' [3] and the level for visitors. Under the lower Memory Container the resting place for unidentified remains from the WTC site location. [4] There is a ray of light coming out of the upper volume penetrating the Ground Zero and reaching the Memorial Stone desk that covering the resting place. [4] The Memorial Stone desk is a round plate of white marble with images and names of the victims projected on it. [1] The two volumes are reflection of the memory the upper one preserves material, visual and verbal information, while the lower one deals with visitor`s memory and feelings. The main function of the lower Memory Container is visitation and contemplation [2] for families and loved ones of victims' [3]. One of the most important points in the project is the route of the visitors. It passes through a series of metaphoric associations and the visitors' role changes from a passive observer to a participant in the act of memory preservation. Visitors' route 1. Approaching the memorial From a distance we see a spherical volume with reflective surface, with different images appearing on it. The round shape is a metaphor of natural container and preserving something inside. The reflection on its envelope communicates with an observer and alludes to its content. 2. Near the upper Memory Container From a distance the upper volume seemed to float supporting in the air. Standing next to it we mention a chaotic construction. There is an obvious disbalance between the massive volume of the Memory Container and the fragile, asymmetric structure. This structure reminds us of the destruction and conceptually connected to the slurry wall, standing next to it. 3. The way down Leaving the daylight behind, we drown into the memory of the event. Narrow passages, leading to the lower Memory Container, are filled with objects, photographs and other artifacts left from the WTC representing the WTC`s everyday life. 4. Inside the lower Memory Container After passing through the thick of visual information, the visitor suddenly enters a completely empty space. The only source of light is coming from the round window the top of the volume, and we can also see the upper Memory Container through this window. (The ray of light falls down on the Memory Stone, the only object inside the lower volume. Names and images of the victims appear on the stone) Only at this final point the visitor understand the structure of the memorial, see the visual connection between both volumes and realize that both Memory Containers - the full upper and the empty lower - are two faces of the same act of Memory Preservation. While outside, the visitor only consumes information, he might as well stay untouched emotionally. Reaching the lower point and left above with the void of the lower volume the visitor is urged to turn to his own memory and sences. |