Co-architect and designer of the World Trade Center memorial Michael Arad '91 will deliver the Convocation address to officially open the College's 235th academic year on Tuesday, Sept. 21.
A veteran of the Israeli military, Arad will describe his architectural experiences in the past year to an audience consisting primarily of members of the Class of 2008.
The 16-acre World Trade Center site will be dedicated to the victims of the terrorist attacks through Arad's award-winning architectural design entitled "Reflecting Absence." The goal of the simplistic design, according to Arad, is to remind visitors of the tragic losses while maintaining a spirit of hopeful optimism for the future.
Arad said he had a vision for the memorial before the competition began and expanded upon his ideas when given the opportunity.
"I started thinking about a memorial before the competition was even announced, but it was difficult anticipating the memorial would be on the actual location of the tragedy," Arad said.
The international World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was initiated by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in April 2003. The competition's mission statement provided specific design elements that were necessary to include in the physical structure, but the incorporation of the elements in the structure remained open to designer creativity.
The five required elements included the recognition of each individual victim, an area for contemplation and remembrance, a footprint comparable to the original World Trade Center, preserved relics of the building and facilities for public ceremonies and activities.
Arad, however, said that he did not even look at the mission statement before he completed his design. A resident of New York City, Arad said he felt compelled to participate and that he unknowingly met each requirement.
Over 5,000 design proposals were considered by the memorial's jury. The first stage of the design submission process required applicants to present their general conception of the memorial to the jury. Eight finalists were selected to proceed to the second stage, which consisted of developing their design concepts into an architectural model.
Comments were submitted to the LMDC's website from around the globe, representing 63 countries and 49 states. These comments were documented in various public meetings held in Long Island, Connecticut and New Jersey.
After numerous votes by the selection jury, Arad won the competition.
LMDC President Kevin M. Rampe praised the 13-member jury for successfully completing the selection process and acknowledged the creation of the memorial as a large step toward the recovery of Lower Manhattan.
"The Freedom Tower will reclaim our skyline with a proud new symbol of our nation's resilience," Rampe said. "The museum will tell the countless individual stories of lives cut short and the unprecedented heroism we witnessed."
Currently funded by federal money and development grants, the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation will work to raise funds once it gains enough members.
The memorial model will be on display in the Winter Garden in the World Financial Center, and its anticipated public opening is September 2009.
Arad received a masters degree from Georgia Tech's College of Architecture and is a partner at Handel Architects.
