Posted by Jan Orfe on October 08, 2003 at 10:47:41:In Reply to: How did your WTC Memorial Turn Out? posted by Mark R B on June 28, 2003 at 19:27:16:
The odds are 5,200 to 1, not bad compared
to buying a lottery ticket or meeting
your soul mate. Mr. Stratas seems to be
somewhat of a know-it-all (and I mean that in a nice way) because he recently revealed on his Planetcast web site that the jury had reduced the magic number to
roughly 15 finalists. This is good news,
I guess. At least the selection process
is alive and well, and soon we can all
remove the duct tape from our collective
mouths.
How do I think I faired in this
competition? To be perfectly honest, my
gut tells me I am NOT one of those 15
people for a number of reasons, which I'd
like to share with you, see what you think. Unlike that guy from Greg.org, who
puts his chances in the top 80, that's a lot of self-confidence. But after seeing his Pentagon memorial design idea, I can only wonder how he might symbolize those 3,022 victims at Ground Zero. Enough with
the esoteric, cerebral, abstract forms already. Remembrance is an emotional journey and it ought to be as dignified and personalized as Libesknd's site plan permits. Anyway, I paid my entry fee, so
here's my $25 worth of self-doubt:
Will the memorial include a waterfall?
Word is, maybe not. Will the cultural
span above the north footprint and the
cantilevered section above the south footprint be altered in some way? Word is, possibly. Will the jury favor a pedestrian walkway across the pit, to
facilitate foot traffic to and from
the transit hub? (Libeskind appears to be amenable to having this element included
if it serves his Memory Foundations.)
This walkway would also provide visitors
a unique view of the memorial grounds
(many say) but I recall an earlier outcry
by families and loved ones that such a
device was insensitive to their need for
quiet contemplation, what with noisy
(and nosey?) people gawking from above.
Is the Liberty Street ramp going to be
shortened, for structural reasons? Yes,
apparently. Has the 70' bedrock entrance
at the NW corner been resolved size wise?
No, it hasn't. This could effect usable
design space at memorial plane. Finally,
what exactly are we memorializing within the pit? I would hope the recognition of victims is the site's primary and most prominent feature. Not a wall of names,
nor 3,022 "things", but rather, as Maya Lin has stated, "...we need to find a
different way to memorialize the names.."
If the parameters and guidelines are
either in flux or as yet undecided upon,
several of the elements I outlined above
will weigh heavily on the merits of my
presentation. Libeskind's waterfall is an intregal part of my design. Removing it
at this late date would upset my entire
composition. I didn't include a walkway,
because it would seriously conflict with
the few vertical elements I felt were vital to memory and healing. As for his
Liberty Street ramp, making it shorter
creates another layout problem; elements located beneath it's pitch would then need to be moved, etc. etc. In short, my
memorial design is a tightly integrated
composition of Program Elements. And the last thing I need to read about is that
the LMDC is changing the rules as we go along, in the midst of jury deliberation. The final example obviously detrimental
to my design would be if officials allow
the actual footprints to descend below
memorial grade. While handing UPS a check
for $47.50, my understanding was nothing
would be constructed below, which made
sense to me. But then "they" decided to
have buses enter off-site, thus infering
recessed footprints might be something
for the 13-member jury to consider???
(Stop me if I'm whining.) This design
competition is a NOBLE thing. I loved
every minute spent at my drawing board.
I poured my soul out to create the kind
of memorial I would like to visit 50 years from now with my daughter and her daughter. I approached this project as if I were a visitor someday. I'm not so much now wishing I were one of the 8 "lucky" finalists, as I am in simply hoping the winner gets it right.
Thanks, Orfe
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