A review of the 9/11 memorial by good old Wytold

[Trace One]

http://www.slate.com/id/2302983/

 

 

[Trace One]

I read someone describe the two holes with water draining into them as symbolic of the amount of money spent on this thing.. that is it, for me..Those empty voids – BAD design idea in my book.

[Mike Mitchell]

I have to say kudos to all involved with the redesign of the entire site. There will be tons of if’s, should, could, etc associated with this destination in lower Manhattan. The fact is that a team was chosen, and they undertook one of the most politically and emotionally charged sites in all of the US if not the world. Critics can say what they want about the memorial and how it succeeds or fails, but they were not part of the massive team that pulled this project together. It’s easy to write a review of the “quality” of the design when you are not involved for a decade of your life. Most readers and designers will never be involved in a project of this magnitude in their lifetime. My hat goes off to all those involved for taking the time to submit a design for this site and the chosen team for addressing a massive group of varied stakeholders.

[Trace One]

You could say that about anything, Mike!  A home renovation has a massive team of stakeholders..Are you saying design criticism is pointless? I beg to differ. And as for addressing a massive group of varied stakeholders, you are aware that the single design was chosen with the single designer (for the park part) there was no massive response to stakeholders, just  the choice of one designer, who was then paired with an architect. And as for the building, I don’t see Daniel Liebeskind’s design responding to stakholders..To me it is exactly the opposite, and unfortunately so – the single idea of a very politic designer, good at schmoozing..

 

But you have  your pont – design is hard, and a lot of people are affected by it, to their detriment or not..

 

Read some of Joe Nocera’s pieces on the finances behind the 1776 tower – read them and weep for Manhattan, for design, for clairty and common sense..

Just My humble..

[Rob Halpern]

As a designed landscape it is a profound expression of what we have made of that event.

The Memorial tells us nothing of what happened but a great deal of how we reacted to it.

 

http://wandermelon.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/911memorial.jpg

 

Is this not what America feels like today? I don’t like this design, but I am in awe of its prescience.

It’s quite amazing really

[Trace One]

Rob, there are no words with the picture, in your link…Just the picture..Is that your intent?  (or is it my computer not working properly..?) I find your take interesting and would like to read more, if there is more?

[Trace One]

Wow, Henry – a really good read – thanks! and you are right..one really needs to see it, before judging..Guilty as charged!!!

[Rob Halpern]

No words intended.

Where two soaring monuments to commercial hubris stood are now two bottomless pits that weep continuously. They are so large that apparently they can be seen from space. We have outdone the Taj Mahal in expressing grief.It is how we choose to define ourselves today.

That’s a lot of grief!

[Thomas J. Johnson]

“Obviously people were fascinated by the particulars of this ‘progressive collapse’, in the same way there is something mesmerizing about any form of demolition.”

 

[Trace One]

another interesting post, Henry! Michael Sorkin – I agree, he seems to have a lot of sense..

[Susan Suddjian]

I agree with Michael.  I think that the design team must have thought about it a great deal and there was probably more integrity of heart and solidarity of mind than any other project they may have worked on before.  I’m certainly glad to see so much open space and so many gorgeous trees. I saw a documentary on them – how they have been very well cared for.  So much about the response of this tragedy is solemn and very impressive, including the memorial site.

[Deborah Christman]

A void in our confidence. Another in our hearts. The effect works for me. Looking forward to seeing it.

[Trace One]

Deborah, all cynicism aside, the Memorial cerainly provided a very moving site for the memorial today..It has been  a daylong weeper, the names of the mothers, sisters, brothers, fathers, those not found ever, those no-one else knows – the one girl I know who died there – her name was pronounced incorrectly..

But the nation is weeping,and the memorial wept with them..

[Heather Smith]

In the Seattle Times there was a picture of  a man kneeling at one of the slabs with names on them. The image immediately made me cry.

http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/pb-110911-father-son-memorial-510a.photoblog900.jpg

Interesting to see how use changes the perception of the design.

[Trace One]

It was an incredibly sad ceremony, I agree Heather – Paul Simon singing “Sounds of Silence” was really something..

But it is making me think about photo-opportunity and design..How often does one think about the photo-opportunities in a design – or is it always inherent in one’s thinking, in some sense..

The San Diego Zoo has all these “Kodak moments” all over, or something like that – places where they recommend setting your self there, for  your memory shot…Perhaps that was that a separate branch of the design team, on that project – the photo-op team?..

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