It’s taken the dedication and quiet determination of many people, working purposefully, in memory of what was lost that day. 9/11 still hovers beneath many of the debates we’re having about our freedom and security, commerce and law, immigration and openness.
We’re in a kind of war, but it’s not always clear who the enemy is. Terrorism strikes on our soil, then melts away into the night. It’s a religiously inspired ideology with few boundaries, an ‘-ism’ of the worst kind, with followers who remain both pathetic and dangerous. We’ll have to keep dealing with the higher consequences and lower probability of future attacks.
Despite this, we go on with our lives.
The Freedom Tower, with spire recently attached, makes it the tallest in the Western Hemisphere at 1,776 feet.
It has extra-thick set concrete and blast-proof, or, very thick, glass. Naturally, it’s going to be a high-value target.
Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish architect, was hired to build the transportation hub at the memorial. The NY Times had an unfavorable review as the costs have ballooned from $2.2 billion to potentially $3.8 billion dollars.
A boondoggle?:
‘Even so, Mr. Calatrava remains unable to overcome the project’s fatal flaw: the striking incongruity between the extravagance of the architecture and the limited purpose it serves. The result is a monument to the creative ego that celebrates Mr. Calatrava’s engineering prowess but little else.’
A somewhat critical piece by Paul Goldberger at the New Yorker of how the process has gone, published September 12th, 2011:
‘Ten years on, the long-term shape of Ground Zero is coming into focus. It is turning out to be one part Daniel Libeskind to several parts Larry Silverstein, the real-estate developer who held the lease on the World Trade Center. Silverstein asked various architects to build skyscrapers on the site, none of whom, at least so far, have produced anything close to their best work.’
A more stirring, Tom Hanks-narrated, video originally shown at the 10th anniversary summit in Washington D.C. I’m not sure I’m trusting of D.C. these days and the ‘greatness’ model to be able to get things done:
———————————–
You can look into those holes, the water flowing down and away:
———————————–
And down there seven stories below ground is where the museum will be, where many of the bodies remain, unrecovered:
————————————
Related On This Site: The end of the ‘greatness’ model?: From NPR: Grants To The NEA To Stimulate The Economy?…From 2 Blowhards-We Need The Arts: A Sob Story
A museum industrial complex…more complexes…who are the people museums should be serving? James Panero At The New Criterion: ‘Time to Free NY’s Museums: The Met Responds’
Joan Miro: Woman…Goya’s Colossus…Goya’s Fight With Cudgels… Goethe’s Color Theory: Artists And Thinkers…A Reaction To Jeff Koons ‘St John The Baptist’
From The NY Times: ‘Atheists Sue to Block Display of Cross-Shaped Beam in 9/11 Museum’
I have been at the site several times now. It remains impressive. Long ago I stood between the two towers and your eyes were automatically drawn upwards. Now, at the same spot, you look down, following the water falling into the deep…a humbling exercise. The sound of the fountains cuts you off completely from the surrounding city noise, perfect to stand still, think, and remember.
I appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to comment. Your blog is looking good, too, right up my alley.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. That day still hurts, so I can’t imagine what it’s like for the survivors and their families, and everyone whose working every day to make something out of it.
I’m hoping to go for a visit in the next few years.