The Battle For Ground Zero, Part 48

Back to the drawing board? What else is new? The Snohetta building that would have otherwise been occupied by The Drawing Center and the IFC may be seriously revised because of changed circumstances. It may be downsized or scrapped altogether.

It will be at least 30 percent smaller than the 250,000-square-foot design that was unveiled five months ago, Mr. Pryor said. He said it was too early to tell which signature elements would survive: the broad entry ramp, the way the building seems to float over the plaza, the prismatic facade studded with glass, the light court at the center.

The executive director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Fredric M. Bell, put in a word for the ascending ramp. He said it would connect an appropriately "skyward-pointing" element to the largely underground memorial complex.

Others despaired of salvaging anything from the project.

"The beautiful Snohetta-designed building is now a relic - a design without a program or a purpose," Agnes Gund, president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art, said on Thursday, in the letter she wrote resigning from the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation to protest the Freedom Center's eviction. Her comment carries particular weight, since Ms. Gund was a member of the panel that chose Snohetta.

Monica Iken, another board member of the foundation, which will build and own the memorial and cultural buildings, said in an e-mail message, "There is no reason from a cost or time standpoint that they could not reconsider the look and location of that building."

Ms. Iken said the architects should determine how many visitors can be expected, then account for 9/11 artifacts like the twin tower columns, stored in Hangar 17 at Kennedy Airport.

Ms. Iken, whose husband, Michael Iken, was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, said the Snohetta building was "beautiful in some ways." But she said, "It blocks the views of the memorial and important sight lines and vistas that would help tie the whole area together."

While Iken thinks that the building should be relocated to a different portion of the site, that isn't likely to happen. The building, like everything else related to Ground Zero will be redesigned and reimagined yet again.

John Byrnes thinks this might be a good opportunity for Gov. Pataki to put together a real Freedom Center that honors those who actually protect, defend, and establish freedom around the world - the members of the US Armed Forces. Interesting idea.

The LMDC website still hasn't updated to show that the IFC has been axed. Curious. The last news from the website is from 9/21/2005. If the LMDC site is to be useful, shouldn't it be at least as current as any blog?

UPDATE:
A maddening look for meaning examines why there is such a focus on getting people to find meaning in events and locations. The battle at Ground Zero is one such locus.

Technorati: World Trade Center, WTC, Pataki, LMDC, urban policy, Freedom Tower, IFC, International Freedom Center.