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American Morning

Interview With Peter Walker, Michael Arad

Aired January 14, 2004 - 09:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the final in design for the World Trade Center memorial will be unveiled. The plan, which is called "Reflecting Absence," was chosen from a competition that drew more than 5,000 entries.
Designer Michael Arad has revised the original plan to address criticism from some of the families of the victims. And he joins us from lower Manhattan along with landscape architect Peter Walker to talk a little bit about the vision for the site.

Gentlemen, good morning. Thanks for being with us. I guess, first, I would say, you heard from the families. Did you think some of their complaints were valid? That they had a point? Because not all were thrilled with the original design.

MICHAEL ARAD, WTC MEMORIAL DESIGNER: Yes. Obviously, a lot of criticism I received was about the starkness of the plaza. And what I was trying to do was try to temper a little bit my initial impulse which came from the sadness of the event. And to try and bring a positive message of rebirth to the site well.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: So, what's been changed?

ARAD: Well you can see at the landscape level what used to be a very open plaza with very few trees we have now almost a forest in the middle of the city. And in some ways I think of it as something that belongs both to the city and to the memorial. So it's a way of marrying these two different programs together.

O'BRIEN: Peter, since we're talking about a forest, you see more trees than were in the original proposal. Give me a sense of how you think that will allay some complaints from the victim's families who said it feels cold, it doesn't feel like a warm, embracing place. And that was big problem for them.

PETER WALKER, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: I think the trees, going through the seasons, coming on fresh in the spring, and having shadow all summer long, having fall color and finally going to a winter when you want the sun to come down. I think that is going to make a big difference in the way people see the memorial. Not as just a fixed item, but something within the living world.

O'BRIEN: Michael, there have also been changes, I know, to the footprints. That was a little bit of problem for some family members. And then some people who said, Why is there none of the horrific artifacts from that day in the centerpiece in your design? And again, as we can see from your design, it goes sort of the other direction. Address those two issues for me.

ARAD: One of the issues regarding the footprints was very important for us was to open the footprints to the sky at both locations. And working with Daniel (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the master planner has been very fruitful. And we have modified many areas of the master plan to work with the memorial design.

Only this week -- last week, I was taken out to JFK to see some of these really moving and dramatic remains from the site. And I want to find way to incorporate them into a meaningful experience at this site.

They're very fragile, despite being enormous, they're rusting away. So we want to find way to preserve them, put them in a way people can understand the context, yet the story of 9/11 in an interpretive center at the site.

And what we have done is try to find ways to bring that into the southwest corner of the site with an underground museum that is adjacent to the slurry (ph) wall, which is one of the biggest dramatic remains that has been left over from that day.

O'BRIEN: Sort of artifact center where people can see some of the things that remain from that horrible day.

I'm curious, Peter. You know obviously there seems to be this pull between some people who say this should be a memorial to what happened that day and the horror should be visible and remembered and others who say, No, the memorial needs to be about moving forward and needs reflection and some kind of calmness.

How do you two, as landscape designer and architect, marry those two very opposing thoughts?

WALKER: I'm not sure you marry them. I think what you do is allow both of them to live side by side.

In many ways, the memorial is this more important of the two. But that doesn't mean that you have to block off the streets and make a completely isolated area.

What we're hoping is that the landscape will make that bridge from the busyness of the street to the more reverential kinds of spaces appropriate to and supportive of the memorial.

O'BRIEN: Peter Walker, Michael Arad, thank you so much for joining us, gentlemen. And congratulations on the design winning and changes as well. We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 14, 2004 - 09:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the final in design for the World Trade Center memorial will be unveiled. The plan, which is called "Reflecting Absence," was chosen from a competition that drew more than 5,000 entries.
Designer Michael Arad has revised the original plan to address criticism from some of the families of the victims. And he joins us from lower Manhattan along with landscape architect Peter Walker to talk a little bit about the vision for the site.

Gentlemen, good morning. Thanks for being with us. I guess, first, I would say, you heard from the families. Did you think some of their complaints were valid? That they had a point? Because not all were thrilled with the original design.

MICHAEL ARAD, WTC MEMORIAL DESIGNER: Yes. Obviously, a lot of criticism I received was about the starkness of the plaza. And what I was trying to do was try to temper a little bit my initial impulse which came from the sadness of the event. And to try and bring a positive message of rebirth to the site well.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: So, what's been changed?

ARAD: Well you can see at the landscape level what used to be a very open plaza with very few trees we have now almost a forest in the middle of the city. And in some ways I think of it as something that belongs both to the city and to the memorial. So it's a way of marrying these two different programs together.

O'BRIEN: Peter, since we're talking about a forest, you see more trees than were in the original proposal. Give me a sense of how you think that will allay some complaints from the victim's families who said it feels cold, it doesn't feel like a warm, embracing place. And that was big problem for them.

PETER WALKER, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: I think the trees, going through the seasons, coming on fresh in the spring, and having shadow all summer long, having fall color and finally going to a winter when you want the sun to come down. I think that is going to make a big difference in the way people see the memorial. Not as just a fixed item, but something within the living world.

O'BRIEN: Michael, there have also been changes, I know, to the footprints. That was a little bit of problem for some family members. And then some people who said, Why is there none of the horrific artifacts from that day in the centerpiece in your design? And again, as we can see from your design, it goes sort of the other direction. Address those two issues for me.

ARAD: One of the issues regarding the footprints was very important for us was to open the footprints to the sky at both locations. And working with Daniel (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the master planner has been very fruitful. And we have modified many areas of the master plan to work with the memorial design.

Only this week -- last week, I was taken out to JFK to see some of these really moving and dramatic remains from the site. And I want to find way to incorporate them into a meaningful experience at this site.

They're very fragile, despite being enormous, they're rusting away. So we want to find way to preserve them, put them in a way people can understand the context, yet the story of 9/11 in an interpretive center at the site.

And what we have done is try to find ways to bring that into the southwest corner of the site with an underground museum that is adjacent to the slurry (ph) wall, which is one of the biggest dramatic remains that has been left over from that day.

O'BRIEN: Sort of artifact center where people can see some of the things that remain from that horrible day.

I'm curious, Peter. You know obviously there seems to be this pull between some people who say this should be a memorial to what happened that day and the horror should be visible and remembered and others who say, No, the memorial needs to be about moving forward and needs reflection and some kind of calmness.

How do you two, as landscape designer and architect, marry those two very opposing thoughts?

WALKER: I'm not sure you marry them. I think what you do is allow both of them to live side by side.

In many ways, the memorial is this more important of the two. But that doesn't mean that you have to block off the streets and make a completely isolated area.

What we're hoping is that the landscape will make that bridge from the busyness of the street to the more reverential kinds of spaces appropriate to and supportive of the memorial.

O'BRIEN: Peter Walker, Michael Arad, thank you so much for joining us, gentlemen. And congratulations on the design winning and changes as well. We appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com