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Suspending Memory
Joseph Karadin with Hsin-Yi Wu, New York, NY
The memorial at the World Trade Center site gives the victim's family members a chance to tell the
story of the ones that they have lost. It will give each and every person who witnesses the memorial a chance to learn something about the people who perished and the family members who continue
mourn the loss of their loved ones.
The lives lost on September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 collectively form the foundation of two
memorial gardens rising from where the WTC towers once stood. Each victim is manifested as a symbol of strength, a single column helping support one of two island gardens. As the columns
extend through the garden surface at varied heights they transform from concrete into glass. Each unique glass column is a timeline of a victim's defining moments beginning with a birth date and
culminating at September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993. It is an object biography that gives visitors a glimpse of the persons who perished on both days. By sharing the victim's birth date and
life story, it enables visitors to relate and form a personal bond which otherwise would not have existed. The memorial column becomes a glowing beacon of each victim; their defining moments shining brightest at night.
In passing between the ever-changing gardens, the visitor is made aware of two other tragic events bridged in time; Somerset County, Pennsylvania and Arlington, Virginia. The memorial bridge is
composed of alternating bands of stone and glass, epitomizing the past and the present, the enduring and the ever changing. The name of each victim from Pennsylvania and Virginia is etched
into a glass plaque suspended over a pool of reflected azure.
Upon entering the North garden, visitors are greeted with a natural stone wall inlaid with 2982
randomly protruding polished squares. This wall spans the length of the island, shielding it from its frenetic surroundings. Water trickles from an opening at the base of each square into a pristine
reflecting pool. The Pool of Tears enfolds the entire memorial site forever preserving Ground Zero as hallowed ground. The expanse of this pool is a metaphor of the collective tears shed by millions around the world.
The memorials become the embodiment of each victim representing them as a summation of time; a collection of moments recorded in each life. Together they form a place of hope and tranquil beauty
suspended in a sea of calming motion.
Joseph Karadin
Originally from Ohio, Joseph Karadin moved to New York City in 1997 after graduating from Cornell
University with a Bachelor of Architecture. Currently, Mr. Karadin is working as a designer in Manhattan and lives in New York.
Hsin-Yi Wu
Hsin-Yi Wu was born in Taipei, Taiwan, and grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia; she arrived in the United
States in 1992. In 1997 she graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Architecture. She is currently works in Manhattan and lives in New York.
Acknowledgements:
Model Fabrication: Radii, Inc., Hoboken, NJ
Illustrations/animation: dbox, New York, NY
Music by Matthew Bannister, Charles D'autremont and Carl Negin
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