Reflecting Absence

Reflecting Absence is the memorial to honor the 2,979 heroes lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993. The memorial will ensure that future generations will know where the towers once stood and will never forget each individual life taken during those tragic days.

The memorial will be a place for families and friends to remember, a final resting place for those who have not been identified, and a place where thousands will come to reflect upon and share our personal and collective loss.

The reverent design was selected from 5,201 entrants from 63 nations and 49 states. This participation from around the world is itself a monument to our shared loss.

The memorial will not only remember those killed, but it will celebrate the heroism that prevailed following the attacks, and the resolve of our nation to overcome.

Designed by Architects Michael Arad and Peter Walker, in conjunction with Associate Architect Max Bond, the design calls for three levels of memorial experience allowing for a ritual procession to the very foundations of the World Trade Center site.

Plaza Level

At the Memorial Plaza the visitor enters an unexpected forest in the city, a unique space with a canopy of hundreds of oak trees. On the southwest corner, a clearing will serve as a gathering place for events of remembrance. Two voids puncture the horizontal expanse of the Memorial Plaza and make present the enormous absence felt by us all on September 11th. The size of the voids physically conveys the magnitude of the twin towers that were lost. The voids contain waterfalls that drop nearly thirty feet into reflecting pools below. Visitors can circle around a pool, taking its measure. Confronted by the names of those lost and by the vastness of the space in front of them, visitors will comprehend the scale of devastation that occurred.

Visitor Orientation Education Center

The Visitor Orientation Education Center (VOEC) provides visitors with an entrance to the Memorial Museum and Memorial Hall as well as creating a central location for acquiring information. The building is being designed by the Norwegian based architectural firm, SNØHETTA. A central atrium will connect the VOEC with Memorial Hall, bringing sunlight into the spaces below the plaza.

Memorial Hall Level

Between the pools, visitors will find a hall that connects many of the other elements of the Memorial quadrant. The Memorial Hall, a vast open space, will offer a place for visitors to enter the Memorial Museum. From Memorial Hall, visitors will be able to view the waterfalls and travel even deeper underground to the foundations of the site.

Bedrock Level

Each September 11th anniversary, families have traveled down into the site to touch bedrock. At the Bedrock Level of the Memorial Museum, visitors will again have access to the very foundations of the World Trade Center site, in perpetuity, where the towers fell and heroes perished. The exposed box beam columns that supported the twin towers will be laid bare for all to see and touch visible reminders of that terrible day. On the northwestern edge, visitors will see a vast 70-foot tall section of the exposed slurry wall that held back the Hudson River during the attacks.

It is at the lowest level of the site that visitors will find an area set aside for contemplation and for the unidentified remains. This room will serve as a space for loved ones to gather in the absence of a grave or tomb. It will be open to the general public as part of their visit to the Memorial Museum.

The ascent back to the plaza and the return to daily life completes the museum experience and returns the visitor to the living Memorial Grove of elegant oak trees.