New Jersey, September 11th and You
Liberty State Park, located across the Hudson river from lower Manhattan and the World Trade Center complex, has been an important historical landmark for more than a century. On September 11th, 2001 it became both backdrop and participant in one of the most significant events in recent American history. Rightly envisioned as a key location for remembering the events of that fateful day, this concept seeks to define an interactive memorial experience without peer.
Comprised of four primary elements: The Wall of Reflection, the Tower of Remembrance, the Table of Ceres and the Time Garden; the monument speaks clearly of its close proximity with the eternally altered skyline of one of the world’s grandest metropole.
The Wall of Reflection faces New York with black granite panels of varying angles. Each view offers a reflected vista of the great city in its current attitude juxtaposed with a traced outline of the skyline as it was on the day of the terrorist attack. In the void left by the iconic twin towers are two deep engravings giving visitors an exact location for that which they signify in space. This doesn’t happen automatically however. Only through careful alignment and by taking cues from the historical markers can the visitor make the full connection – a simple, yet purposeful exercise.
Time, shadows, the fifty states, and New York viewed upside down all play a part in the remaining three pieces of the concept, each interdependent on the other to create a cohesive whole.