9/11 Memorial
What is the 9/11 Memorial for?
What notable features are included in the memorial?
Is the 9/11 Memorial exactly where the Twin Towers were?
9/11 Memorial, a monument at the site of the former World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City, honoring the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Nearly 3,000 individuals were killed on September 11 at the World Trade Center in New York City; the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia; and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where one of four hijacked planes crashed into the ground after passengers attempted to retake the plane. Designed by Israeli-American architect Michael Arad and American landscape architect Peter Walker, the memorial opened on September 11, 2011.
Reflecting pools
The focal points of the memorial are twin reflecting pools, each measuring nearly an acre, that occupy the footprints of the Twin Towers. The two 110-story skyscrapers, designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki (1973), had been the centerpieces of the World Trade Center. Each tower was struck by a hijacked commercial plane on the morning of September 11 and collapsed within two hours of the attack.
The reflecting pools consist of two square basins that are sunk 30 feet (9.14 meters) belowground and lined with the largest manufactured waterfalls in North America. Water cascades down the sides of each basin and then streams into a central void. The edges of each pool are framed by bronze panels inscribed with the names of victims of the September 11 attacks and of the six people who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Plaza and museum
The memorial has a plaza that includes more than 400 trees, including swamp white oak trees and the “Survivor Tree,” a Callery pear tree that was recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center, rehabilitated, and replanted. Adjacent to the memorial is the September 11 Museum, which opened in 2014. The museum is home to a permanent collection comprising more than 82,000 objects, including salvaged remnants of the World Trade Center buildings, recovered personal effects, and tributes left at the World Trade Center site. One notable piece is the “Last Column,” a steel beam covered with messages from rescue workers and others involved in the cleanup operations at the wreckage site, known as Ground Zero.
- In full:
- National September 11 Memorial & Museum
- Also called:
- 9/11 Memorial & Museum
The design
The design for the memorial was chosen in 2004 by a jury of 13 individuals who sought a proposal that not only honored the victims but also offered space for contemplation. Arad and Walker’s concept was selected from 5,201 submissions from 63 countries. American architect Thom Mayne, who was a consultant on the project, described the memorial as having “a solemnness, a simplicity, and an otherness which is absolutely perfect.”