The site of the devastation on September 11th, 2001, has been transformed into a place of reflective silence, writes ÁINE KERR
TWIN REFLECTING waterfall pools, surrounded by a tree-lined plaza, are set in the footprints of the Twin Towers which once loomed large across the New York skyline.
The site of devastation and pandemonium on September 11th, 2001, has been transformed into a place of reflective silence as visitors gaze upon two acre-sized voids where the whooshing sounds of water drown out the deafening city without. All the while, they read the bronze parapets that carry the names of the 2,983 people who died on 9/11 and in the 1993 attacks.
Beyond the 30ft fountains, where 660,000 gallons of water circulate all day round, young swamp white oak trees have begun to stand tall. The trees create a serene atmosphere, somehow at odds with the imposing office buildings and their shadows.
One tree stands apart; a callery pear tree, known as the “Survivor Tree”. It once stood on the original World Trade Center plaza, but was left with lifeless limbs, snapped roots and a blackened trunk when it was pulled from the wreckage in 2001.
The waterfalls, engravings and trees complete the National September 11th Memorial entitled Reflecting Absence, which was selected from a design competition that included more than 5,000 entrants from 63 nations. It opened on the 10th anniversary of the attacks in September, during a ceremony led by President Barack Obama.
Just 24 hours later, some 7,000 people visited the site, while another 400,000 bookings were made on its initial opening days.
The 2,983 names are arranged based on a system of “meaningful adjacencies” that reflect where the victims were on 9/11 and their relationships. Broadly, names are placed within nine primary groups and within those groups names are arranged by affiliation, so that the employees of a company or passengers of a flight appear together in the north and south pools.
The nine groups cover those who died in the February 26th, 1993 bombing, those who died in the Twin Towers, those who died on the hijacked flights, those who died at the Pentagon and those who were the first responders.
Personal relationships, those who were spouses, fiancés, friends, co-workers, entire families, or those who barely knew one another but faced their final moments together, drove the deepest level of the arrangement.
The arrangement also honours more than 1,200 requests made by victims’ next-of-kin and surviving colleagues for specific names to feature next to each other. Eleven unborn children are also remembered, with the words “and her unborn child” following the names of 11 women.
Also among the names are seven Irish-born citizens: Michael James Stewart from Belfast; Ruth Magdaline McCourt, from Cork; Kieran Joseph Gorman, from Sligo; Jeremy Caz Carrington, from Down; Joanne Mary Cregan and Patrick Joseph Currivan, from Dublin; and Martin John Coughlan, from Tipperary.
When the bereaved first began visiting the site from 2001, posters, flags and messages were posted randomly on perimeter fences near piles of rubble. Feelings of anger dominated.
But today, at a memorial ground offering a soothing effect, friends and family trace the engraved names of their loved ones with crayons and papers, taking rubbings as poignant keepsakes.
Some place a single flower in tribute, while others sit on nearby benches reflecting on the bustling life that once permeated the site and the lives since lost.
Those yet to find the sought-after name move to the electronic directories on the periphery of the polls, where a “Find a Name” button helps families and friends quickly retrieve directions to the name placing.
Next year, a steel and glass memorial museum will open between the twin pools. The seven-storey, three-pronged steel columns were once part of the original facade of the Twin Towers, and were installed in September 2010 inside the pavilion. Once complete, the memorial and museum will occupy half of the 16-acre World Trade Center site.
The master plan for the site features a spiral of new towers around the eight-acre memorial.
As visitors survey the memorial today, rebuilding works continue apace, including the construction of 1 World Trade Center which, at 541m, will be the tallest building in the US.
Those planning a visit to the site can reserve a date and time online at 911memorial.org. A limited number of same-day passes can be obtained on arrival at the site at 20 Vesey Street, beginning at 9am. These passes are limited to four per person.
Once beyond the airport-like security, visitors step out of a bustling city and into a serene calm space where everything and everyone falls silent.