The Success of the 911 Memorial: Reflecting Absence
“Whatever one’s feelings about the events of September 11, 2001, or their baneful political aftereffects, it seems impossible not to be moved in some way by Arad’s memorial. I came away with the same feeling that overtakes one after a funeral or memorial service for a relative or close friend, even though I knew no one who perished at the World Trade Center, or even someone who knew anyone who did.” - Filler
“American Arad—an obscure thirty-four-year-old New York City Housing Authority architect’s starkly Minimalist proposal, Reflecting Absence, won the memorial competition in 2004”
I believe the thought and creativity put into Reflecting Absence 911 Memorial really shows respect and remembrance for those lost on September 11th, their families, friends, and loved ones. The design by Arad took over over ten years of time to create and encompasses architectural design, landscaping, and an overall sense of loss and rebirth for the visitors. On 16 acres of land, the space is comprised of 2,983 names engraved on two large reflection pools filled with the largest man-made waterfalls in the United States. Families, relatives, and friends were welcome to view the Memorial first. Now it is open to the public. As stated in the NY TIMES,
“This is now a place, not a construction site, not a design,” Alice M. Greenwald, the director of the memorial museum, said. “It’s now a place in New York, and I think that’s transformational.”
“Families began to personalize the site, leaving their own memorials on top of the official one. Ingeniously, they used the cut-out names as holders for a raft of mementoes: Small American flags, roses, hydrangeas and sunflowers sprouted from the letters.”
“One flag stuck out of the name Charles F. Burlingame III. Mr. Burlingame, known as Chic, was a pilot on American Airlines Flight 77, which hit the Pentagon. These are all his crew,” his sister, Debra Burlingame, said, pointing to the surrounding names. “These people are real people to me. It’s very touching to see all these people here together.”
“But now, she touched her brother’s name and burst into tears.”
“In creating something at once so monumentally simple and yet so evocatively complex, Arad reconfirms the radical reconception of public memorial design that Maya Lin set in motion with her Vietnam War Memorial three decades ago.”
By bringing together so many people from the closest family members, to the most distant people of the general public, all can feel a sense of connection to the memorial and the powerful space it has transformed. I can imagine being very emotional having to hear the sound of the roaring water falls, and looking at the endless rows of names of those who passed. They will never be forgotten.
- Emily Brady
Foley Square from the Perspective of an Artist and a Landscape Architect
*(In Support of Tilted Arc) Richard Serra’s hope was that, “The viewer could learn something about sculptural orientation, space, and place” when visiting the plaza. “The viewer would become aware of himself and his movement through the plaza” by walking along the sides of the Tilted Arc. He suggested that his piece gave meaning to the environment and the viewer by presenting them with a structure that was both concave and convex - creating a sense of identity. He said, “The space itself became a sum of many different perspectives.”
*(The Contract & Controversy): The space was previously half taken up by a non-working fountain, yet the public and officials said they were concerned with function when dealing with Serra’s Tilted Arc. Serra was promised that his sculpture would be a permanent piece on federal property, and he didn’t make any money by building it. It was agreed that the work would not be removed or dismantled. The choice to use Richard Serra as the artist, and the approval and installation of Tilted Arc, were not decisions made by the public in a democratic way. The GSA made the decision to do all of these things without asking the public anything. Serra’s understanding was that, “He was involved in a national program, one that designed to “express and represent the extent of our national cultural achievement.” “ If removed, the site-specific sculpture would be destroyed in the process. Some argue that the public did not understand the work, and that all good sculptures created controversy when exposed to the public. Others argue that events could be planned with the sculpture in mind instead of looking at it as a disruption of public space.
TheTilted Arc was eventually removed because there was a missing “democratic” element in the decision making process. The overall structure of the Arc seemed as more of an irritant to the everyday people, rather than a reflection place. The sculpture cuts across the plaza and interferes with the normal walking patterns of workers and citizens.
A new design for the public square was implemented by Landscape Architect Martha Schwartz:Currently “A serpentine series of benches with circular grassy mounds, replaces the controverial “Tilted Arc” sculpture by Richard Serra. The artist created an integrated and friendly space which includes lighting, railings and other functional details. The seven grassy mounds contain fog heads which will intermittently produce mist for irrigation and to cool the plaza.”
I believe that Foley Square is much more functional with the new Javitz Plaza Design. Richard Serra’s sculpture did not seem to approach the Plaza with knowledge of the general public, or knowing their opinions. The new piece designed by a Landscape Architect shows real respect for the people and gives them space to live, work, and reflect. The L.A. design goes with the flow of the city, and the public space. Richard Serra’s piece seemed to be much more of an artwork, with not enough consideration given to the public and total use of space.Here is a great link describing the process of Foley Square from Tilted Arc to Javitz Plaza - http://www.archidose.org/writings/javits.html
Net by design collective Numen consists of multiple layers of flexible nets suspended in the air. The flat layers of the net are subsequently connected to one another on counterpoints thus forming a “floating landscape” open for visitors to climb in and explore. The result is an op-art social sculpture (or a community hammock) relating to topics of instability, levitation and regression.
(via twinfawns)
(Source: Flickr / nuzzaci, via myodos-deactivated20120412)
