Overview

VISITORS TO THE MEMORIAL MUSEUM will be presented with a sequence of experiences which allow for individual and personal encounters within an overall context of a historical narrative. The nature of the Museum is such that the shell of the space, comprising existing foundations, the slurry wall and other in-situ elements of the site is as much an artifact of 9/11 as the contents of the exhibitions.

Visitors to the Museum will enter through a Pavilion that will house an auditorium for public programming, a multi-purpose area for contemplation and refreshment and a private suite reserved for victims’ family members. Two of the original steel tridents from the Twin Towers will be enclosed within the Pavilion’s grand glass atrium, standing as references to the past, while signaling hope for the future.


Rendering by Squared Design Lab 

Read Snøhetta’s architectural design statement for the Pavilion.

From the Pavilion, visitors will descend a gently ramped “ribbon,” toward the core exhibitions at bedrock (Davis Brody Bond Aedas, Museum architects), the archeological heart of the World Trade Center site. This descent echoes the ramp that once was used by construction workers to help build the World Trade Center and was again used in the aftermath of the attacks for the recovery and clean-up of the site and by victims’ family members to access bedrock on anniversaries of 9/11. From the ramp, vistas will be created, providing a sense of the vastness of the site and the scale of the original Towers. Visitors will be able to stand between the locations of the original Twin Towers and experience their scale, which will be referenced by two metal-clad, ethereal volumes.



The ramp that will bring visitors to the core Museum exhibitions has already been framed in steel and concrete. 

Survivors' Stairs in the Museum. Rendering by Thinc Design

The final descent to the base of the site will take visitors alongside the Vesey Street Stair remnant – also known as the “Survivor Stairs,” which was used by hundreds to escape the destruction of the Towers on 9/11.


The Survivors’ Stairs have been moved to their final location in the Museum.
Photo by Joe Woolhead, October 2009

Here the visitor arrives at bedrock level of the Museum which contains the foundations of the original World Trade Center. To the greatest extent possible the original column bases and concrete footings that supported the Twin Towers are exposed in the floor slab of the Museum, and they define a clear outline of the Towers. Also on this level are the permanent and temporary exhibit galleries which tell the story of the events of 9/11 through artifacts, narratives, oral histories and multi-media displays (Thinc Design with Local Projects, lead exhibition designers).


Preserved box beam column remnants surrounding the South Tower volume.
Rendering by Squared Design Lab



Current construction on shaping the area along the South Tower footprint. 
Photo by Joe Woolhead, September 2009.

A powerful experience within the Museum is the West Chamber – an enormous space created by large sheer walls and long span trusses.  This area references both the absence of the buildings and the enormity of the site.  A preserved portion of the original World Trade Center slurry wall, which withstood the collapse of the Towers and prevented the site from being flooded by the Hudson River, will be displayed in here.

The West Chamber will also house the “Last Column” – which was returned to the site in late August 2009 for permanent installation in the Museum.  The massive “Last Column” was covered in tributes from members of the construction trades, rescue personnel, and family members before the column was removed from the site, marking the end of the nine-month recovery efforts in May 2002.  


The "Last Column" being lowered to bedrock. Photo by Joe Woolhead, August 2009.


The "Last Column" and Slurry Wall in the Museum. Rendering by Squared Design Lab.

The final leg of the visitor’s experience is a gradual ascent by escalator from bedrock back to Memorial Hall. From this ascent there are controlled views out to the aluminum-clad tower volumes. Arrival in Memorial Hall is followed by an ascent up to the plaza, the Memorial fountains and the active life of the city.

Read Davis Brody Bond Aedas' Architectural Design Statement for the Museum.