[note: in the last post the Memorial numbering
was mixed up/reversed due to dsylexic tendencies.
the 'cosmic mound' is actually memorial 1, and the
'meditative volume' is actually memorial 2. though
keeping with list archives, this reversal remains.]
WTC Memorial 2, Meditative Volume *
of the two memorials in the future WTC Memorial Park,
the second is a large volumetric space which reflects
upon the events of 9/11 through architectural details
of the original Word Trade Center towers, in numerous
ways. through aesthetics, through spatial experience,
through reenactments of people and events. the most
notable aspect of this 'space within a space' which
is a giant cube under a multistory urban park, is
that the 'facade' or wall of the skyscrapers is to
be found as a screen of its large meditative volume
in which persons can walk around what would be the
'outside' of the building and look out through the
facade of the WTC and see others walking across the
volume, and hear their whispered conversations and
footsteps faintly in a very large and quieted space.
at its top is a reflecting pool which visitors can
see those above who are outside in the park, walking
the footprint of the tower around the perimeter of
the cube. the water is translucent and the sky and
clouds above can be seen, as can vision of people
'beyond' the facade, in another realm. so too can
those outside see beyond, through the reflections
of water to the building below, alive with people.
at its base, in a central courtyard surrounding by
long benches and greenery, is the original and the
surviving WTC sculpture, "Sphere" by Franz Koenig. [1]
the narrative here is of art, architecture, and the
events of 9/11, and a great void in which the events
can be contemplated in an aesthetic context provided
by the reenactments of a sleek and pure modernism
which is survived by a tragic yet strong sculpture
whose value has been transformed by events- no longer
simply modern- it is a ruin, meteorite, an epic tale.
persons who navigate the perimeter walkways will be
able to walk up and down in the building, to look
across and see into office space reenactments in
which George Segal-like plaster sculptures recreate
desks, lives, vignettes of events in the buildings,
yet as memories which are paused in time, which the
visitors can walk past and through and consider in
terms of relating the modern outside with its inside,
and what has been lost yet which is not forgotten.
the above 'sketch' is a section (cutaway, as if looking
at at the various sections of an orange when cut in half).
the relation to how the building may meet the park is not
consistent in these drawings and too difficult to draw in
conventional methods without clay or computer modeling.
yet the section would be approximate if considering that
the original 200'x200' ft footprint were the space to be
designated for this cubic volume and that a translucent
reflecting pool of that size is not desired nor possibly
even structurally possible given the design constraints.
therefore, a smaller proportional reflecting pool which
is 100x100' would allow a nested space of two cubes, one
inside the other, one with the building facade, and the
other with several floors which recreate office space of
the original towers through through the eyes of artists.
this is where figurative sculptures and others will be
able to add memories, stories, and places for those who
were living beings - to those we remember, to consider
the context for the events of 9/11 and how many lives
intersected and changed forever, those who passed and
those who survive and have to live through the events
every day, to try and reconcile what is unimaginable.
in such a setting there may be several elevator cores
and stairways, which people can circulate up, down,
and around the meditative volume, yet there would also
be stairs that are occupied by sculptures of persons
who are walking down stairs to leave the building, as
a series of plaster, stone, metal, or wood sculptures.
people with cellphones calling their loved ones, people
resting on the stairs or in a hallway, their head in
their hands in disbelief. sculptures of memories of
those who walked through the building. even the 'door'
created by those stuck in an elevator, who pried open
the door and hacked their way through gypsum board to
get out and escape. such an opening would be in a wall
with a stuck (false) elevator looking into office space
which recreates other scenes. firefighters may be seen
as sculptures which are going up the stairs while all
others are heading down, a firefighter giving oxygen
to someone beside a doorway. smoke or other changes
in the atmosphere could be seen in the top floors of
office space, by low hanging fabric ceilings which
create darkened space with flickering lighting as
the narrative ties together people, places, events.
the footprint outside can be accessed from inside
the building below by way of elevators and stairs,
as can the larger WTC memorial park. there is a
peaceful and tranquil and fluid connection between
spaces and yet the context is directed and focused
and also 'abstract' in the sense of elements of
modernism, its designs, as a way of a retelling
of events in a way appropriate and unique to the
events themselves. examples of memorial sculptures
that could occupy this space (in section above),
as witnesses and memories, are soon to follow.
in this way the second footprint communicates the
events of 9/11 through art, architecture, design,
remembering the ideas, stories, peoples involved,
the memories, the context, the forces experienced.
archaeological design and modernism again combine,
yet differently than the other memorial footprint
and its iconic symbolism, this memorial is more
abstract and sublime as a collective experience,
where many details contribute to total sensation,
making the intangible connections tangible, felt.
through memory, navigation, movement, aesthetics.
two towers, two memorials, two grand experiences
in one civic composition, the WTC Memorial Park.
[1] Transfigured Work Rises as WTC Memorial
http://www.dianefarrisgallery.com/artist/lee/ex02/german.html
'Then came September 11, 2001. The hail of steel, flame and debris that fell from the sky that day disfigured "The Sphere" - but did not destroy it. As Koenig's friend and translator, filmmaker Percy Adlon, noted, "they found intestines of one airplane inside a hole that was ripped open in the top of the sculpture. They found a bible in there, an airline seat, papers from offices on the top floor. It became its own cemetery." Yet the work had survived in a condition that would have been recognizable to the thousands of office workers and passers-by who had gathered for summer lunches around its base over the past three decades.'
KOENIG’S SPHERE
The German Sculptor Fritz Koenig at Ground Zero
A Film by Percy Adlon
http://www.percyadlon.com/films/koenigs_sphere.html
http://www.percyadlon.com/second_pages/koenigs_sphere_pg2.htm
---
* with due respect to the bombings in London today,
this is how I decided to work through my emotions
brian thomas carroll: research-design-development
architecture, education, electromagnetism
http://www.mnartists.org/brian_carroll
http://www.electronetwork.org/bc/