NEW YORK | World Trade Center Memorial & Transit Hub

[Troubadour]

Originally Posted by Don098

No, absolutely not. It's not the cold that would bother them, it's the lack of rainfall that they need...plus their roots would go waaay to deep to have them atop the museum.

Is the museum under the trees??? I thought it was that building with the crosshatch facade - is that just the entrance? The water needs could be taken care of feasibly enough: I mean, think about all the water the city is already using on the waterfall fountains, so it's not like water's a big issue in NY. The roots could be fed through underground irrigation.

Originally Posted by Don098

Their considerable weight makes it totally unfeasible too...redwoods only live in that small sliver of the world because their micro climate is just perfect enough for them to survive.

Survive naturally, sure. But there are redwoods in botanical gardens in Ireland, Germany, and England too. Also, as to roots, my understanding is that sequoias tend to have relatively shallow root structures - they spread out horizontally to stabilize the tree. Anyway, that's what I heard from the Yosemite tour guide.

Originally Posted by Don098

Redwoods are iconic for California...why on Earth would you put them in NYC??

Because they're beautiful, tall, majestic, smell awesome, and can live for thousands of years. I wish I had the artistic skill to create a rendering of what the memorial would look like with redwoods so I could show what I'm thinking about, and how beautiful it would be. As for being iconic of California, that shouldn't matter - NYC proudly displays gifts from and tributes to all the great things of the world, from the Statue of Liberty (French) to that Roman arch whose name escapes me, the Pantheon clone that is the Columbia University library, etc. etc. Just think how exotic a dense grove of redwoods would look in the middle of Lower Manhattan, and how the intense, conical dark green living towers would look at the base of the shiny, reflective blue faces of the WTC skyscrapers.

I'd also think douglas firs would be a more beautiful choice than dwarf oaks.

[fimiak]

You went from having redwoods in downtown NYC to Douglas firs aka Christmas trees. The museum takes up the entire space below the plaza, and where it isn't museum, its transit hub. This means the roots need to be able to be reasonably managed, impossible to expect from a redwood even if the weather permitted their planting (it doesn't). There is no tree that is stronger looking than an oak, and when you see the colors that show up in October you will see why oaks were chosen for this site.

[The Grand Architect]

Originally Posted by Troubadour

Is the museum under the trees??? I thought it was that building with the crosshatch facade - is that just the entrance? The water needs could be taken care of feasibly enough: I mean, think about all the water the city is already using on the waterfall fountains, so it's not like water's a big issue in NY. The roots could be fed through underground irrigation.

The trees currently are already watered via an underground irrigation system.

Originally Posted by Troubadour

Survive naturally, sure. But there are redwoods in botanical gardens in Ireland, Germany, and England too. Also, as to roots, my understanding is that sequoias tend to have relatively shallow root structures - they spread out horizontally to stabilize the tree. Anyway, that's what I heard from the Yosemite tour guide.

Also, the watering isn't the problem, the roots are. The tallest redwoods can grow to a whopping 500 feet or even more. I mean think about it, a tree 500 feet is going to have roots spreading out into a diameter of about 100 feet or more. If that occurs, there is only room for a few trees here and there. It wouldn't look pretty.

Originally Posted by Troubadour

Because they're beautiful, tall, majestic, smell awesome, and can live for thousands of years. I wish I had the artistic skill to create a rendering of what the memorial would look like with redwoods so I could show what I'm thinking about, and how beautiful it would be. As for being iconic of California, that shouldn't matter - NYC proudly displays gifts from and tributes to all the great things of the world, from the Statue of Liberty (French) to that Roman arch whose name escapes me, the Pantheon clone that is the Columbia University library, etc. etc. Just think how exotic a dense grove of redwoods would look in the middle of Lower Manhattan, and how the intense, conical dark green living towers would look at the base of the shiny, reflective blue faces of the WTC skyscrapers.

I'd also think douglas firs would be a more beautiful choice than dwarf oaks.

Because they are TALL. The taller the trees are, the less people from street level are going to see the shiny facade of the WTC towers!

Also, Redwoods only grow in certain climates, thus they only thrive in California. Put some in New York, and soon enough, you're going to have yourself a Christmas tree to cut down.

[davidinasia]

Originally Posted by JG1324

Everything is looking good.

Thanks for posting that pic. The rate of progress on the pavilion is unbelievable, I had no idea that the south side cladding was almost finished also. They must have done the whole wall in like 2 weeks.

However, I don't think it looks anything like the renderings. It seems to be just white with a stone-like finish. Weren't there supposed to be reflective strips or something? Are those coming on later?

I'm not impatient, just wondering.

[Don098]

Read the last page and you'll have your answer. Hint: That's protective film.

[Fishman92]

This was covered a few post ups- the white and blue is just protection for metal facade to protect it from dust and dirt.

[OptimumPx]

I went over to the site to take a look around on the 11th.

I dunno, I kinda almost like the blue and white squares...but I'm sure the final look will be much better.

[uaarkson]

Will the pavilion eventually be covered with grass?

[uakoops]

Originally Posted by uaarkson

Will the pavilion eventually be covered with grass?

gLass, not gRass!!!

[Major Shake]

Hi, new here. I was just curious what are those 2 concrete structures on the west side of the WTC site, parallel to 9A. Ty.

[Don098]

Originally Posted by Major Shake

Hi, new here. I was just curious what are those 2 concrete structures on the west side of the WTC site, parallel to 9A. Ty.

Ventilation shafts for the museum complex below.

[uaarkson]

Originally Posted by uakoops

gLass, not gRass!!!

Woops. I meant plaza.

[Troubadour]

Originally Posted by uakoops

gLass, not gRass!!!

Why not cover it with grass?

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Troubadour

Why not cover it with grass?

I thought about that awhile ago when the renderings were released. But I think it's important the "object-like" characteristics be emphasized by having similar surface qualities on all sides. It's kind of like this jewel sitting in the middle of the plaza as opposed to blending with it.....the grass with the trees for example.

[Rizzo]

BTW, I think this was brought up before, but in the May 13th camera shot, is that graffiti on the old slurry wall, just right of the pavilion? I'm assuming it's pre-9/11. Its kind of weird seeing it there, knowing it was hidden for such a long time.

[winlinmac001]

^^^ I remember asking this question to STR a while way back. According to him, that graffiti was most likely there before 9/11 while the original trade complex was being built.

STR, where are you?!

[Highriseologist]

This grafitti was done post 911 as it reads "9-11-01 IUOE local 15". Almost all grafitti is an eyesore and this should end this non topic.

[C.Lan]

It would seem disgraceful to put graffiti on a memorial, for sure. I know the thought was bounced around to put up some kind of actual street art, but it went through a lot of debate because the subject of the actual tragedy has been so overrepresented in art forms that it's hard to figure out how to connect the people who were actually there with the progress of the site moving forward. The question is: if that subject should be in the past, how can we somehow incorporate that art into actually moving forward?

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Highriseologist

This grafitti was done post 911 as it reads "9-11-01 IUOE local 15". Almost all grafitti is an eyesore and this should end this non topic.

Ok, sorry for asking then.

But if the topic stops with an answer, we don't need your opinion.

[winlinmac001]

Okay, if I have to go pee-pee, I better head over to Century 21, Burger King, Verizon Communications Building, or the World Financial Center before crossing the street to get a glimpse of the memorial. Or if worse comes to worse, wear a diaper.

I mean come on, the memorial is HUGE!

WTC Memorial To Not Feature Bathrooms This Fall
Source: http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...ooms-this-fall (NY1)



Visitors to the National September 11th Memorial later this year may want to hit the restroom before making their trip.
There will be no bathrooms at the site when it opens on the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks.

The mayor's office says visitors will be advised about the lack of toilets when they are given information to plan their trip.

Officials also say the memorial will run on a timed reservation system aimed at minimizing wait times to enter the site.

The National September 11th Museum will have bathrooms, but it is not set to open at the site till next year.