WTC design by Arad '91 reworked
By Ann Mary Mathew | May 26, 2005Once the celebrated winner of the World Trade Center memorial design competition, Michael Arad '91 has been relegated to the sidelines by city, state and developmental interests, as his design is being altered into something far removed from his original vision.The biggest change to Arad's design is the proposed addition of a forest of trees to the memorial, an addition that would contradict Arad's conception of the memorial, Dartmouth architecture professor Karolina Kawiaka said. Other changes include moving Arad's reflecting pools so that they are centered on the footprints of the Twin Towers and removing two of the four ramps entering the site. "When I talked to [the landscaper architect] he thought the design was a little sparse," said Arad, commenting on the decision to add the trees to the memorial. Immediately after Arad won the contest, the organizers paired him with a landscape architect and assigned him to work with two architecture firms, Peter Walker & Partners and Davis Brody Bond.