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The Endurance Memorial fountain is constructed primarily of glass and steel
situated within a pedestrian plaza at the site of the former the World Trade Center, New York City. (See: Photomontage)
The memorial fountain consists of two glass replicas of the World Trade Center
Towers’ 1 & 2 (“WTC”) encased within two glass pentagons. The upper pentagon is at the 41-story “sky terrace” level and the other is around the 4-story level above the WTC’s entrance arches.
The overall
height of the towers will likely be from 13 to 20 stories high (138 feet to 208 feet), large enough to convey the original towers’ mass. The ultimate height will be determined by and proportionate with the immediate
environment (neighboring buildings, etc.). The memorial’s plaza may be as large as the WTC plaza which was destroyed on September 11th.
The fountain is made of tinted green glass laid over a steel
superstructure. A minimum of steel is used so that the fountain is as transparent as possible.
The towers are sheathed with flat pieces of glass on which is etched the WTC design elements (the vertical
columns and horizontal floors, windows, etc.). Water is pumped to the top of each tower, which then runs down the sides of the glass towers and is collected within the upper pool. The water then drops to the lower
pool through an estimated 3,054 holes representing the final number of victims from the terrorist attacks in New York City, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
The memorial fountain is placed in the center of a
large five-sided pedestrian plaza. The plaza is made of various types of stone (granite, marble, etc.), concrete and brick. The outer-half of the plaza has a repeating pentagon-square-pentagon geometric design
pattern.
A circle of 51 columns representing a nation united (the 50 states and Washington, DC) lies at the midway point of the pedestrian plaza. The columns support the fountain’s lower glass pentagon pool.
The names of each state/DC are affixed to the columns. The columns may be constructed of steel salvaged from the WTC.
A 12-foot high black marble wall defines the pedestrian plaza’s outside perimeter. A
narrow pool of water followed by a 10-foot high expanse of green-tinted glass lies in front of the black marble wall. Inscribed on the glass are the names of the deceased from the terrorist attacks in New York City,
Virginia and Pennsylvania, along with the names of the companies that leased space in the buildings destroyed in or near the World Trade Center complex, and the names of the government bureaus that lost public
servants (the NYFD engine/ladder/-rescue companies, the NYPD police precincts, the Port Authority, etc.). Visitors may leave objects (flowers, mementos, etc.) in front of the glass wall. The visitors can also touch
the names inscribed on the plaza’s perimeter glass wall.
A “pencil thin” blue laser is projected up from the top of each tower. At night the two lasers may be visible from great distances.
The site is
surrounded by a circle of green space in memory of the Pennsylvania field associated with United Flight 93. The space may include green stone, grass and trees.
At appropriate locations, enclosed glass cases display memorabilia from the terrorist attacks. Examples include the “missing” signs people lost in the World Trade Center complex. Flags for the estimated 85 countries that lost citizens in the terrorist attacks are flown on flagpoles erected at appropriate locations.
A subterranean WORLD MEMORIAL MUSEUM is built near the memorial fountain. Visit ENDURANCEMEMORIAL.com
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