This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Schools

Twin Towers: Buildings to Remember

In honor of all the lives lost, a memorial for the Twin Towers was created at Ground Zero.

We all remember the traumatizing events of Sept. 11, 2001, but what’s more important is how we choose to remember the lives that were lost on that fateful day.

A memorial was unveiled exactly 10 years later on Sept. 11, 2011. To decide how the memorial would be designed, a committee was created and a competition was held. In the end 5,201 designs were submitted from 63 nations.

The Memorial Plaza contains two reflecting pools, each about an acre in size, that are set in the footprints of the old World Trade Centers and contains more than 400 Swamp White Oak trees that surround the pools.

Find out what's happening in Cartersvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The names of the victims on Sept. 11, 2001 and the Feb. 26, 1993 bombing were inscribed on bronze parapets that surround the pools. Family members were able to ask the creators of the memorial to specially place the names by friends, co-workers or family. The memorial also functions as a Memorial Glade at which special ceremonies and gatherings are held. It is also one of the most eco-friendly plazas that have ever been constructed, conveying a new found spirit of hope and renewal to the world.

“I think that the Memorial is a great way for families to reunites with loved ones because so many people were left heartbroken,” says Maurice Matthews.

Find out what's happening in Cartersvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The memorial means many things to the people that lost loved ones on that day. To some it may mean closure or a remembrance of the person but to others it may just be a simple reminder of the tragic events of the terrorist’s attacks. Michael Arad, Peter Walker and his architectural partners are both extremely experienced in their fields of work. They have worked together exceedingly well, building one of the most meaningful and aesthetically pleasing memorials ever made.

The Memorial Museum was designed to present a “sequence of experiences which allow for individual and personal encounters within an overall context of a historical narrative.”

Visitors begin tours by entering the Pavilion that contains an auditorium for the public, a multi-purpose area for contemplation, refreshment and a private suite for the victim’s families. On their way down to bedrock level, where the foundation of the old towers were, the visitors will pass two of the original steel tridents that once held the towers in place. They will be enclosed in glass as a symbol referencing towards remembering the past but also symbolizing hope toward the future.

The visitors will then begin their slow decent downward in a circular pathway that leads them to the core exhibitions. This pathway resembles the one that was used by the construction workers that built the first towers and also helped to clean up the site. From there the visitors are able to stand in between where the towers stood and take in the vastness of how big the towers were. The ramp then leads up to the main exhibitions.

The final part of the museum will be the “Survivor Stairs," used to save hundreds of workers from the building to help escape the destruction of the towers. After that the visitors will have reached the bedrock level where they will be able to see permanent and temporary exhibits of the museum. When they have finished there the visitors will be able to ride an escalator back up to the Memorial Hall, the back to the plaza.

The museum contains three major exhibitions. The first are memorial exhibitions; you start by entering the museum that will contain interactive tables and artifacts, a space for remembrances where pictures of the victims are shown, and the wall of pictures. Then there will be the historical exhibitions, the first part recapping the day by using artifacts, images, videos, first person testimonies and real time audio from that tragic day.

The visitors will also be provided with insight into what happened to the people inside the high-jacked planes, the Twin Towers and the Pentagon, and not to mention the first responders and civilians that helped one another. The second part will contain the information about the towers before Sept. 11, 2001.

Other information will also be provided such as evidence that was used in the trail, oral testimonies and archival news footage. The visitors also get a look into the origins of the plot. The third part will consist of the immediate aftermath up to present day.

This part will also have presentations from the victims’ families, global reactions and videos on the search from the missing. This memorial will also cover the rebuilding of the new towers, the descriptions of the compassion of the volunteers, and the world after the attacks. A presentation is shown covering the ongoing questions and how the people of America understand the significance of this day.

The final exhibition shows meaning of the West Chamber. This is a room where the “slurry wall” is contained, which is a wall that was still standing after the attacks. The West Chamber will also contain the “Last Column,” the last piece of the towers that was removed from Ground Zero. The column has been covered in missing posters, messages from the victim’s families and mementoes. The architects, Aedas and Snohetta, are said to have done some of their best work ever on the Memorial Museum.

The last major contribution to the rebuild of the World Trade Centers is a movie called Rebirth, which is presented by the nonprofit organization, Project Rebirth. The movie follows the lives of a son, a firefighter, a wife, a rescued woman and a brother who lives were forever changed by the events that took place that day and their personal transformations over the 10 years that have passed since then.

The film also includes the longest and most extensive time lapse in history. Shot with 35mm film since March 11, 2002, Tom Lappin and his team have set up 14 cameras in the area around Ground Zero to capture the rebuilding of World Trade Center Tower 7 and the two main towers. The cameras have been running for 24 hours a day for 8 years and have captured almost 900 hours of footage.

Ten years have passed since Sept. 11, 2001, but the American people have still not forgotten. The rebuilding of these towers represents the strength and the new found hope we have found as a nation.

“There is something calming about it, the building itself is beautiful,” says Johnson

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Cartersville