I think the Ground Zero memorial waterfalls are beautiful....

[Joe the Revelator]

....shockingly so.

[Bluenorthwest]

1. I also lilke the waterfalls

They managed to make a good memorial place. Always falling into the hole in the ground, the water.

[cilla4progress]

17. I imagine the sound...

I think they are lovely as well. Imagine hearing the sound of that roaring water in downtown NYC!

I worry about the 5 office buildings that are also planned for the site (?). Will they muffle the sound and dilute the beauty and solitude? What does anyone know about these 5 "towers" that are planned?

[tridim]

2. They are, but there should be three holes.

[CJvR]

29. I think...

...the Joint Chiefs would object to having a section of the Pentagon converted into a swimingpool.

[rsmith6621]

3. Are they recirculating the water????

and not having it run off into a drainage system.

[Fearless]

4. Most likely. It's pretty much standard for fountains.

[NutmegYankee]

8. I'm sure they are.

Most modern fountains use a recirculation pump.

[sueh]

14. Yes, they are. I learned that on a program about the memorial that was aired on my PBS affiliate.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

18. Great program. I watched it and also heard the architect

interviewed on NPR. The design is something that came to him soon after 9/11 and he built it on the roof of his building. Later he submitted it to the search committee.

I think it is a moving work. I do worry about the trees, though. Oaks get very large and have shallow roots. I wonder how they will fare in 50, 75, 100 years.

[joshcryer]

43. I think the little pods they built for the trees should be OK.

They'll be higher maintenance than, say, in Central Park, though.

I liked that they'll monitor tree health from top to bottom and will provide the exact nutrients necessary to make them grow healthy. Seems a mix of hydronics and soil growing in some ways.

[joshcryer]

42. NOVA Engineering Ground Zero, you can watch it online here, and yes it's very good:

NOVA Engineering Ground Zero: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/engineering-ground-zero.html

Shame that the architect for 1 World Trade Center won't get to do his glowing glass idea. They were going to cover the base with glass that would've been lit up 24/7 but when they tested it, it didn't fracture into little cubes like safety glass, it became shards. :(

[bettyellen]

5. I'm glad too it's focusing only on the loss, no patriotism, just family

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

19. Me, too. That is all I am focusing on. Not watching the replay

of what happened. I watched 10 years ago and will never forget it so no need to watch it again.

Another good NPR program I heard this afternoon was "All Boats in the Water" which was about the tugboat and sightseeing cruise boat crews who evacuated people from lower Manhattan that day. Sorry, I can't find a link to it yet.

eta: I had the program name wrong. It is "All Available Boats" and here is the link
http://www.prx.org/pieces/2196-all-available-boats-harbor-voices-from-911#description

[malaise]

6. Agreed

They are lovely

[Divine Discontent]

7. yes, very powerful. touching.

I really like what they've done!



http://www.zazzle.com/republicans_2012_keeping_millions_out_of_work_bumper_sticker-128002960205017719

[FarCenter]

9. How many barrels of MidEast oil per day does it take to run them?

[pintobean]

10. 42

:eyes:

[emulatorloo]

12. LOL. I doubt they are gasoline driven

[CJvR]

27. None!

They run on Canadian and Australian Uranium and Appalachian coal.

[Joe the Revelator]

31. What a bitter unnecessary comment

[Supply Side Jesus]

41. pathetic attempt at controversy

fail

[Raine]

47. Fail

x(

[11 Bravo]

52. Thanks for the reminder that teabaggers haven't cornered the market on ...

douchebaggery.

[MerryBlooms]

11. I agree; the designers really did a wonderful job with the memorial.

The sound of the water falling stuck me as a little haunting, but maybe that's because it's been such an emotional day.

[formercia]

13. I'm waiting to see someone put red dye in the water.

...an appropriate color. Green might be good too.

[trumad]

15. Classy

not.

[Nye Bevan]

16. I would have preferred the original towers to be rebuilt

along with a smaller, but still dignified memorial.

The Vietnam Veteran's Memorial is low-key and has no water features but is the most moving memorial I have ever visited.

[PeaceNikki]

20. Have you been to the memorial at OKC?

That one got me.

[Nye Bevan]

23. Never been to it, but it sounds extremely moving (nt)

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. I agree. It's my favorite of all the DC memorials. You cannot read that wall

and not weep. Every time I see it, it brings chills and tears.

[ScreamingMeemie]

36. I watched my 12 year old look at the names and "get it"...

I love that one.

[MindPilot]

22. I see two enormous "memory holes".

They look like a couple of big drains into which our true history, that facts about what happened that day, our freedom and wealth flows away. Oddly appropriate, I guess. The only statement they make to me is "it's gone..."

[Nye Bevan]

24. If the British had declared every German bomb site to be "hallowed ground", never to be built on,

then half of London and Birmingham would be permanent memorial sites.

[TorchTheWitch]

26. that's pretty much what I feel

Two huge square perpetually flushing toilets. It doesn't look too bad close up, but from a distance I just see two giant square flushing toilets. I think they're rather ugly, plain and crushingly depressing. The two light beams where the towers once stood were a far better concept than two giant flushing toilets.

[SoCalDem]

48. Cynical me.. My first thought was who would be the first to

toss a body into it or jump into the abyss..:(

[femmocrat]

25. I agree. n/t

[CJvR]

28. Yes.

Very nice arrangement with the names and the falls. I thought is sounded a bit silly when I first heard of it but it has worked out rather well.

[Auntie Bush]

30. I think the new tower is gorgeous! Anxious to see it finished.

I hope I'm alive to see them both finished.

[ScreamingMeemie]

32. I think they are horrid, to be honest.

I would have preferred to see something rise from the ashes. We should, as a country, move on and be better---as the most fitting tribute. The most fitting memorial I can create for my own husband is to raise his son into a strong and confident man... not to build a monument in his honor. I don't mean to offend, but they don't move me at all.

[bigwillq]

33. And you're doing a fine job of it.

:hug:

[ScreamingMeemie]

35. Thank you. I need to hear that sometimes. There are moments

when I think the monument building would be a hell of a lot easier. :hug:

[TorchTheWitch]

37. two huge square perpetually flushing toilets

The more I look at it the more I see that. The downward symbolism is crushingly depressing and even defeatist. Like you, I would have much preferred something rising upward like tall shooting fountains or light beams or some kind of "rising from the ashes" type of symbolism. It also doesn't help that they're horribly plain, stark and just ugly. I don't like the trees lined up in militant rigid rows either.

I loved the two light beams they used to have...



I've very sorry for you loss. :hug:

[pnwest]

44. the constant downward motion, the perpetual falling...

I thought I was a freak for being completely disturbed by the falling theme. My boyfriend pointed out it is supposed to be disturbing. But I think its too much. My reaction to it is that the souls lost there are in perpetual turmoil, the whole aura of the place serves to keep everyone focused on the falling. There is zero tranquility, no rest.

[TorchTheWitch]

49. Exactly

It's that perpetual falling theme that is so disturbing. What adds to this disturbing theme is the design itself... dark pits with water being sucked down a central hole is so reminiscent of being thrown into hell. Stark, angular, dark... it's foreboding and down right creepy.

Safety-wise I think it's a disaster. It won't be long until some boob falls in, and it's a VERY long drop.

[Bonobo]

45. Agreed. They are depressing.

water spiralling down into black holes is not the direction to symbolize rebirth.

How can one avoid the conclusion that where they were once soaring twin towers that were the tallest building ever built for a time, there are now two sucking black holes...?

[tawadi]

34. Hope this is not a stupid question

Are the waterfall memorials permanent? Or will something else be built there.

[Suich]

38. Permanent. n/t

[tawadi]

53. Thanks. Hope I can see it some day. eom

[gauguin57]

39. I wanted to go see the memorial, but can't get tickets for the end of the month ...

... when I'll next be in NYC.

You have to reserve tickets to go see it (and go through security when you get there).

Earliest available tickets are Oct. 5.

[Amonester]

40. There needs to be memorials for the thousands of people who

die each year of curable diseases because they cannot afford proper treatment.
I consider them to be victims of teaRoari$m.
When will they get their memorials?

[Raine]

46. Yes I do too, they are sooooo BEAUTIFUL. nt

[Dogtown]

50. They should have

spent that money on health-care for the first providers sickened whilst performing their duties.

[woo me with science]

51. We should have rebuilt the two towers immediately and moved on. nt