James S. Russell walks the new memorial at the World Trade Center site, and finds it "a place of quiet dignity" that is saddled with an unnecessary $300 million museum and visitors center.
Russell says that the "rush to commemorate resulted in a compromised, but elegant muddle."
Russell praises a water feature that commemorates the victims of the disaster and a row of white oaks that are part of the landscaping:
"Though [landscape architect Peter] Walker has created a place of quiet dignity with the ranks of trees and the plane of granite, pleasant ambivalence trumps the expression of tragedy. Once the site can be opened to surrounding streets, local Wall Street workers will gather at lunch."
Russell says the forthcoming museum and visitors are more than the memorial needs.
FULL STORY: Pools Mist Names of the Dead With Grace at 9/11 Memorial
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Paris Bike Boom Leads to Steep Drop in Air Pollution
The French city’s air quality has improved dramatically in the past 20 years, coinciding with a growth in cycling.
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Hard costs like labor and materials combined with ‘soft’ costs such as permitting make building in the San Francisco Bay Area almost three times as costly as in Texas cities.
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Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Smith Gee Studio
Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization
City of Santa Clarita
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions
Salt Lake City
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service