The National September 11 Memorial design, by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, consists of two large pools set within the footprints of the original Twin Towers with 30-foot waterfalls cascading down their sides. The names of the victims of the attacks of September 11, 2001, at The World Trade Center, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania, and the February 26, 1993 World Trade Center bombing are to be inscribed around the edges of the waterfalls. The Memorial, set within an eight-acre landscaped Plaza filled with a forest of oak trees, will be a public contemplative space and will serve as the centerpiece of the rebuilt World Trade Center site.

Complementing the Memorial, a state-of-the art Memorial Museum will offer visitors an opportunity to deepen their experience at the site. The Museum will help facilitate an encounter with both the enormity of the loss and the triumph of the human spirit that are at the heart of 9/11.

Dynamic, interactive exhibitions including artifacts and personal effects, a resource center, contemplative areas, and innovative educational programming will convey stories of the victims and recount the experiences of survivors, responders, area residents, and witnesses.

The Museum, designed by Davis Brody Bond, LLP, will have its primary exhibition space below ground. The Museum will be accessed through an entry pavilion designed by Snøhetta. The entry pavilion will house two of the original World Trade Center’s tridents – signature architectural elements from the base of the Towers. When visitors descend below the Memorial voids, they will reach bedrock, where they will be able to view the slurry wall and other remaining structures at the foundation of the site where the tallest buildings in the world, triumphs of human ingenuity and aspiration, once stood.

For more information, visit www.national911memorial.org.