Four structural steel beams from the World Trade
Center rise eloquently toward the sky in this memorial to the victims of the
September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The design brings visitors through a
city-like grid and between ghostly representations of the two Trade Center
towers. A channel of water, on axis with the space between the towers, visually
connects the pools below in the Memorial Plaza. The outer pool, agitated from
water falling from the channel above, holds the contorted steel, while the
center pool is placid, reflecting the tips of the damaged beams arching overhead.
The names of the victims are engraved in three key locations. The American
flag is the terminus of the interrupted axis. The landscaped site provides
a view of the Mohawk River and includes seat walls where visitors may pause
and reflect.