The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation today opened an exhibition of eight finalist designs in the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. The designs will be on public display in the Winter Garden while an independent 13-member jury continues to deliberate. The eight designs interpret the competition guidelines, which were shaped by thousands of public comments. Required elements include delineation of the tower footprints, recognition of every individual killed in terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 and a final resting place for unidentified remains.
The designs will be on display in the Winter Garden until the jury makes the final decision and selects a winner. In accordance with competition rules, finalists and jury members will not speak publicly about the designs or the competition until a winner has been announced.
In an excerpt from a statement, the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition Jury said, “We have been profoundly moved by the fact that people from 63 countries and many continents have submitted memorial designs, people of different faiths, ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds and beliefs. Their participation in the memorial competition reaffirms our common humanity and is a testament to the solidarity and shared values of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, daughters, sons, friends and families from every corner of the world. In selecting the competition finalists, our goal has been to find, within them, the elements that best embody both the letter and the spirit of the mission entrusted to us. In these finalists, we have sought designs that represent the heights of imagination while incorporating aesthetic grace and spiritual strength.”
The eight selected finalist designs are:
In what has become the largest design competition in history, 5,201 submissions were received from 63 nations and 49 states. All 5,201 proposals were evaluated by a 13 member memorial jury comprised of individuals representing various points of view, including world renowned artists and architects, a family member, a Lower Manhattan resident and business owner, representatives of the Governor and Mayor, and other prominent arts and cultural professionals.
The jury evaluated proposals in a two stage process based on how well each design expressed the mission statement and program, as set forth in the competition guidelines.
To ensure that the members of the jury were informed of the public’s hopes and aspirations for the memorial, the LMDC organized a public outreach campaign called Public Perspectives. The campaign included a mailing to all families of victims of the February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, meetings at which the public could speak directly to jury members, including a large scale public forum held on May 28, 2003, and smaller meetings with the LMDC Advisory Councils, and targeted outreach initiatives to Lower Manhattan community groups and organizations, which ensured that all residents, businesses, workers and survivors were involved with the process. A compilation of all the comments received was delivered to each of the jurors.
During the first stage of the competition, members of the jury reviewed the submissions anonymously. During the second stage, finalists were given a stipend to develop their design proposals further. The jury, which has the sole responsibility for selecting a memorial, is expected to announce a winner by the end of the year.
The finalists’ designs, animations, bios and all relevant information about the World Trade Center Memorial Competition can be viewed at www.WTCSiteMemorial.org and www.LowerManhattan.info.
The competition and exhibition are made possible by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is funded by a Community Development Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
