|
|
|
Recent News Media CoverageRead our news announcement for this event, and our news media access guidelines. 1 - NEWS RELEASE PUBLISHED IN YAHOO.COM BUSINESS NEWS, NOVEMBER 28, 2003.2 - THE NEW YORK SUN - FRIDAY NOVEMBER 21, PAGE 2: Rejected World Trade Center Memorial Designers Build a RelationshipBy JULIA LEVY Staff Reporter of the Sun A total of 5,193 World Trade Center memorial proposals have been given the heave-ho, but the people who created them aren't slinking quietly back to their day jobs. They're planning a reunion. On December 6, hundreds of teachers, architects, and engineers that didn't make it will gather at New York University to display their work and discuss their discarded ideas. "I've only shown my design to four people, that's it," said architect Hugh Lester. "I would love to have that feedback because honestly, in my heart, I feel like I nailed it." Mr. Lester, a detention-center designer, is flying in from Kansas City, Mo., to show his design, which involves a kinetic polycarbonate sphere etched with the names of the victims. Another participant, Barry Belgorod, plans to bring his 6-year-old son, Doug, to the all-day event. "There are an awful lot of creative people that have come up with some magnificent ideas," said the Upper East Side eye surgeon who spent a few weeks providing eye care at ground zero after the attacks. "I think it would be interesting to interact with each other and understand the thought processes we all went through." Dr. Belgorod's "budding architect" son, who was his teammate in the competition, created the prototype for their submission with Legos, about a month after the September 11 attacks. Their design was a glass replica of the twin towers with rectangular holes where the airplanes struck. Brian McConnell, who owns a small telecommunications business, said he's interested in the forum because, "The competition and the response it's generated from people all over the world really is the memorial to what happened on September 11," and "I'm just interested in meeting other people who participated in the contest." Mr. McConnell used mathematical equations to design his plan for a spire that creates the illusion of infinite height.He will be flying to the city from San Francisco to show off his plans. William Stratas, the Canadian Web developer organizing the forum, said the event wouldn't be a rally or a session dedicated to critiquing the eight designs that made it past the 13-member jury. "It's going to be peer-to-peer expression," he said. "It's not a formation of protest or questioning the authorities." Mr. Stratas posted registration forms online Wednesday morning, as the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was announcing the finalists. By yesterday, more than 50 people had signed up. Only one session is dedicated to discussing the finalist designs, and he said he's anticipating some thoughtful but harsh critique. "I was surprised at the uniformity of the theme and I was surprised that there was no iconic vision," he said. "They all basically seem to stitch themselves into the perimeter. They sort of melt themselves into the sunken pit, infill the Libeskind depression." Mr. Stratas, who used a tholos as the centerpiece of his design, said he was surprised that none of the designs was a "purely artistic vision" or an "iconic vision." Although Mr. Stratas insists the forum isn't about political action, some people say they'd like to find power in numbers. One designer, Gregory Mango, a free-lance photojournalist from Brooklyn, said he'd like to get together with some other designers to form a "coalition of designers" that can "have a say in structuring how this competition moves forward." Mr. Mango's design, which involved two amphitheater-like structures at the footprints and prominently displayed remnants from the destroyed towers, said he suspects the memorial jury "tried to water down the ideas so people don't get scared." |
|
|
|
|
COMPETITOR FORUM I is independently produced by Planetcast Presentations, Inc. |
|
