World Trade Center Memorial Competition a New York

This site has been conceived of as a square where people can move freely and where every physical element can be felt, touched, heard and observed, evoking the memory of the terrible event which took place here.
The paving has been made of row stone-slabs which hint at a primordial landscape transformed by a catastrophe.
The central area of the square is an empty space for public ceremonies and celebrations.
The footprints of the original towers are made visible by stone-slabs of a different colour and are surrounded by shallow streams flowing on small rocks and symbolizing the renewal of life.
On the paving, long and thin metallic poles are erected: as many as the victims are. Each pole has the victim’s name engraved on it. Those which are dedicated to the firemen and the policemen and to those who gave their lives to save others lie out of the tower footprints along the site for the ceremonies.
At the centre of the South tower footprint there is an empty area for the families and loved ones of the victims where the fire of memory burns surrounded by spring water.
The area for quiet visitation and contemplation lies on the North tower footprint and where the resting-place for the unidentified remains also lies.
The poles are rigid at the base and slightly flexible at the end so that they can be moved by the wind touching one another. Their upper parts are hollow and perforated producing sounds when the wind blows and containing lights of different colours and intensity creating a peculiar night effect. They make us think of organ-pipes, candles, the trees of a sacred wood, and protect people who gather here creating the effect of a sacred site.

  • Progetto

    Studio di Architettura Raffin, Stefano Tessadori

  • Località

    New York

  • Anno

    2003