A design consisting of two pools of water in the footprints of the destroyed twin towers at the World Trade Centre in New York has been chosen as the memorial to the thousands who died in the terrorist attacks of September 11 two years ago.
The design, by the New York-based Israeli architect Michael Arad, was chosen from entrants in an international competition.
In the original plan by Arad, called Reflecting Absence, the pools are nine metres below street level, with a constant cascade of water down the enclosing walls. They are set in an open plaza of cobblestones and pine trees.
Sloped buildings next to the pools act as entrances into the memorial where visitors descend until they find themselves behind a thin curtain of water staring out into the empty pool. Names of the victims surround the pool.
Changes to the design are to be announced next week. – Guardian Unlimited Â