WTC Memorial To Be Chosen From Eight Designs 11/19/2003
The 13-member jury charged with selecting the winner of the World Trade Center memorial competition expects to render its decision by year's end. Between now and then, the jury will be deciding which of the eight finalists announced Nov. 19 will be the winner, based somewhat on public feedback.
According to jurist Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corp. of New York, the finalists were selected from entries that "best embody both the letter and the spirit of the mission entrusted" to the jury. The jury's mission is to select a memorial that remembers and honors those who have died, recognizes the endurance of those who survived, the courage of those who risked their lives to save the lives of others and the compassion of all those who supported the victims' families in their darkest hours. The mandate is to keep the footprints of the destroyed, twin 110-story towers unencumbered and provide access to the bedrock at Ground Zero. The jury,includes a victim's family member, artists and architects, public art administrators, a museum director, a Lower Manhattan resident, public officials, an educator and a historian. It was looking for designs "that represent the heights of imagination while incorporating aesthetic grace and spiritual strength."