Posted by Jan Orfe on October 16, 2003 at 00:18:29:In Reply to: Re: "nature abhors a vacuum" posted by Another Competitor on October 15, 2003 at 17:25:42:
Well said. I agree. At least you didn't
accuse me of having a closed mind, which
I don't of course, but you're absolutely
right -it's all about interpretation and
one's willingness and ability to deftly sidestep the restraints, often producing
those unexpected, unprecedented results.
I'm sure the winning design will be an appropriate design. My deeper concern had to do with the memorial's narrative more
than anything else. What does it mean, to
create "a statement of enduring and universal symbolism"? Beyond the required recognition of victims (whatever form that takes), what exactly is it that we should "never forget", other than those
3,022 people who perished?When I visit my mother's gravesite at
the local cemetery, I don't say too much,
mostly just stand there and read her
name and the date she died, then I look around at all the other sites, and my sadness grows with each engraved stone, a simple reminder of my own mortality. The
sky, for some reason, is always overcast.
Or perhaps my mood makes it seem that way. Yet one thing else is certain. As my thoughts return to the mother I loved but
hardly knew, inevitably, I ask myself why? WHY did she die? I can clearly recall the where and when, but the WHY
is what I always reflect on most when I go to visit.One hundred years from now, visitors
to the memorial will inevitably ask the
same question: WHY did those people die?
You and I know, because we lived when it
happened. But future generations will not, unless we put the tragedy of 9/11 into it's proper context. Therefore, my
interpretation of "enduring and universal symbolism" in the guidelines was in the telling of the whole story, the reason they died. And for me to do that, my focus was in making a clear connection between the loss of those 3,022 lives and the loss of their freedom, so that the words "we shall never forget" would
carry more historical weight. In short,
I chose not to inform Libeskind's vision.
But rather, to amplify it. My memorial
design speaks to the foundations of our freedom in the context of a national
tragedy, and it culminates in the naming of every victim.So that's my definition of an ideal
memorial, obviously there will be many
other interpretations what the future memorial should symbolize -world peace, religious tolerance, protect the environment, etc. At any rate, I like
my concept, I know it works on more than one level, and we'll see what happens.
Appreciated your rational response.
Orfe
|
ArchitectureWeek
Buildings
Architects
Types & Styles
Search
Library
Places
Pix
Free 3D Models
Archiplanet
|
|