Urban Design Elements2Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey23he program for rebuilding is complex,with many elements that need to bearranged on the site and adjacent areas.This section examines the various elements, and someof the different historical precedents from around theworld that can guide and inspire the planning process.As we consider these individual elements, we mustimagine how they relate to one another and how all theelements of the plans fit together.Public investment in the street grid, transportationinfrastructure and public open spaces provides aframework around which individual properties will bedeveloped. The more sensitively these elements of thepublic realm are designed and fitted together, the morecompelling a framework for the development of thesesites, and the greater the likelihood that quality archi-tecture will emerge. These historical precedents show a variety of solutionsfor urban design questions, though they are by no meansan exhaustive list. The precedents include such elementsas a memorial, transit facilities, the street grid, offices,retail, a hotel, parks and open space.Urban Design ElementsTLower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey24Memorial PrecedentsUrban Design ElementsMemorials have been conceived of in many different ways throughout historyand can take a wide variety of forms. A memorial can be an open space, asculpture, an object, a room, a building, a museum, or even an entire precinct.All of these options and more should remain open for discussion as we thinkabout the appropriate memorial for the site. The precedents presented in thisstudy represent a spectrum of memorials from around the world. The shattered USS Arizona, one of 12 ships destroyed in the Japanese attack onthe US fleet at Pearl Harbor, was preserved underwater and a viewing platformwas built over its midsection. The semi-enclosed pavilion includes three areas:a formal entry, an observation deck and ceremony area, and a shrine with thenames of the 1,177 people killed. The memorial recalls the violence of theevent and the violation felt by the nation, using an actual object as a symbolof the magnitude of what happened, and marking the perimeter by the viewof the harbor from the open pavilion design, without preserving the entiredestroyed fleet. This memorial is located in the midst of what continues todayto be an active naval station.USS Arizona Pearl Harbor, HawaiiUSS ArizonapavilionTurret in thePearl Harbornaval stationLower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey25Oklahoma City National MemorialOklahoma City, OklahomaThis memorial not only remembers the loss of life but also makes strong refer-ences to the event itself. The 3-acre memorial on the site of the Murrah OfficeBuilding connects to the pre-existing plaza in front of the federal courts. Thememorial is highly symbolic, using 168 chairs to represent each person lost.Memorial PrecedentsUrban Design ElementsThe time on thissymbolic gaterepresents themoment beforethe MurrahBuilding wasdestroyed.At night, thememorial isilluminatedfrom below.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey26Many of the memorials to the millions killed in the Holocaust bear witness tothe horror of Nazi death camps, an effort to ensure that future generationsnever forget what took place. Consequently, many Holocaust memorials have taken the form of historymuseums. The Berlin Jewish Museum uses a combination of educationalexhibitions and architectural symbolism to remind us of the violence commit-ted against the Jews, which was largely conducted out of sight from majorpopulation centers.Berlin Jewish MuseumBerlin, Germany Memorial PrecedentsUrban Design ElementsExterior of theBerlin JewishMuseum.The museum isdesigned withmany jaggededges.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey27Memorial PrecedentsUrban Design ElementsAnother symbol often used in memorials is an eternal flame, which representsthe spirit and the vitality of life. Flame also embodies light, or the “illumination”given to us by great people. The final resting place of President Kennedy inArlington National Cemetery is marked with a flame that is never extinguished,and the 3.2-acre site is paved with Cape Cod stones and planted with clover togive the look and feel of a Massachusetts field.Earth is another powerful symbol, in this case of uncovering “buried” or for-gotten history. A section of soil behind the retaining wall of Arlington NationalCemetery was excavated to create a new space. Quotations from women whoserved in the military are etched into the glass skylight, and are “printed” asshadows cast on the masonry walls. The 4-acre site is designed to be alwaysaccessible, with enclosed stairs that cut through the space providing 24-hourvisibility even when the museum is closed.JFK Memorial Arlington, VirginiaWomen in MilitaryService MemorialArlington, VirginiaThe eternalflame at thegrave of JFK.Exterior of the Women in Military Service Memorial.Quotations etched on the skylight are reflected inside the memorial.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey28Memorial PrecedentsUrban Design ElementsGardens are another symbol – of life, hope, regeneration, and the future. Thismemorial honors more than 14,000 American law enforcement officers killedin the line of duty since the first known incident in 1794. The 3-acre site includes60,000 plants and 128 trees, and each year 14,000 daffodils bloom representingeach of the officers.The void is another symbol, and a powerful one evoking the huge losses suf-fered during the First World War. The arch is used to evoke a gaping mouththat swallowed the lives of over 100,000 soldiers in and around the nearbytown – with 20,000 of them killed in a single day. At the center of the arch isa sarcophagus containing the remains of unknown soldiers. No system existedduring the First World War to identify casualties, and tens of thousands of thedead were never identified. Built on a hill outside the town of Thiepval, thememorial design was intended to evoke the cathedral that was destroyed(and subsequently rebuilt) during particularly heavy fighting.National Law EnforcementOfficers MemorialWashington, DCBattle of the SommeMemorial Thiepval, FranceEach planting at the memorial is symbolic of an officer.
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