Dual Memory

Dual Memory is Strawn.Sierralta’s award winning design for the 9/11 Memorial. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation held an international design competition in the fall of 2003 for “a single memorial to remember and honor all of the individuals killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993”. A thirteen-member jury that included Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C, selected Dual Memory as one of eight finalists from 5,201 submissions from 63 countries. This turned out to be the largest architecture and design competition ever held.

Concept Statement:

"We have all had to deal with the consequences of the terrorist attacks on a personal level and as members of our larger communities. The physical memorial is also organized along these two paths, which relate the former orientation of the World Trade Center site and the new future of the area. The footprints serve as healing points for our great losses, both of our collective and individual memory.

Each life taken away is represented by a beam of light, and each of the 92 countries that experienced a loss will have its soil on the site to aid in future growth. Although the beams of light change during the course of a day, and the trees change with the passing of the seasons, the footprints will act as a constant reminder."

Individual Memory / North Footprint

The North Footprint, dedicated to Individual Memory, is composed of a plane of water, 2,982 light portals, water walls and a private space at bedrock. The elements of water embrace and reflect memories related to the victims lost, those who survived and the selfless actions of those who aided in rescue, recovery and healing.

Individual Memory. 2,982 light portals shine through the plane of water on the North Footprint, each one of them representing a person lost. The light portals densify as they approach the Emotional Core of the North Footprint.

Memorial Plane. Water walls flow down from the plane of water above. The light portals illuminate the indirect path toward the stone core. Images shine upon the walls of falling water. The victims names are etched in stone on the Emotional Core.

Private Contemplation. A private space, for families and loved ones, sits at bedrock. The illuminated stone walls hold the unidentified remains recovered from the site and embrace the visitors. Ordered by date of birth, the walls are lined with the names of those we lost.

Collective Memory / South Footprint

The South Footprint, dedicated to Collective Memory, is a quiet garden surrounded by a grove of trees. Elements of earth create spaces that frame the sky.

92 Sugar Maples trees rise up from the South Footprint. This space is devoted to the shared loss of a community, a city, a country and the world as a whole. The trees stand as a symbol of re-growth and new life. The Sugar Maples, native to the state of New York, grow in the soil of the 92 countries that suffered in the great loss.

92 Messages of Hope from each of the countries line the stone Garden Walls. A shared path guides visitors through bands of nature that form around the Emotional Core of the South Footprint. A raised bed of wild roses surrounds a quiet sitting space for meditation and contemplation. Seasonal art and artifact installations related to the attacks are exhibited in this space.

Original Submission

Ground Zero Site

Model Photos

Project Data

The Big Issue: 

The contemporary memorial and the complexity of memory.

Project Description: 

A memorial to the 2,982 people murdered during the attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11, 2001.

Concept: 

The design was rooted in the idea that the memorial be experienced from two points of view: from that of an individual and from that of a collective community.

Year: 

2004

Location: 

New York City, NY, USA

Client/Sponsor: 

Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, 9/11 Memorial

Site: 

Northwest corner of the 16 acres site in lower Manhattan where the World Trade Center Towers once stood.

Program: 

Public Memorial with spaces for private visitation and contemplation.

Scale: 

250,000 sq/ft

Budget: 

N/A

Team: 

Phase I: Architecture: Karla Sierralta, Brian Strawn Phase II: Architecture: Karla Sierralta, Brian Strawn / Structural Engineering: Louis Shell Structures / Model: Model Options / 3D visualization and animation: Vertex Graphics / Lighting consultant: Shuller & Shook

Dual Memory was submitted to the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition.

An international architecture competition for the realization of the memorial for the World Trade Center site was held in the fall of 2003. The mission of this memorial was to “remember and honor the thousands of innocent men, women and children murdered by terrorists in the horrific attacks of February 26, 1993 and September 11,2001... and to recognize the endurance of those who survived, the courage of those who risked their lives to save others and the compassion of all who supported us in our darkest hours”. This turned out to be the largest architecture and design competition ever launched.

Award: Stage Two Finalist

Number of participants: 

 5,201 Entrants, 8 Finalists

Jurors: 

Maya Lin, Paula Grant-Berry, Susan Freedman, Vartan Gregorian Ph. D., Patricia Harris, Michael McKeon, Julie Menin, Enrique Norten, Martin Puryear, Nancy Rosen, Lowery Stokes Sims Ph. D., Michael Van Valkenburgh, James E. Young Ph. D., David Rockefeller

News

Dual Memory was exhibited at:  

The Winter Garden at The World Financial Center, New York, NY; The Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago, IL; and at The Graham Foundation, Chicago, IL.

Dual Memory was published in

:  Architectural Record, Chicago Magazine, Newsweek, Architecture Magazine, Entre Rayas Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times, USA Today and other international press. Dual Memory was also published in the book: Imagining Ground Zero: Official and Unofficial Proposals for the World Trade Center Site.

Dual Memory: 9/11 Memorial from Strawn.Sierralta on Vimeo.