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Flight 93 was en route to San Francisco from Newark, N.J., when it was hijacked. With the words "Let's roll," passengers
rushed down the airliner's narrow aisle to try to overwhelm the hijackers. The Sept. 11 Commission report concluded the hijackers
crashed the plane — believed to be headed toward either the White House or the U.S. Capitol — as passengers tried
to take control of the cockpit. It was the only one of four hijacked planes that day that did not take a life on the ground.
In September 2004 a two-stage International Design Competition was launched, providing professionals
in the design disciplines as well as the general public an opportunity to present design ideas for the memorial expression.
The competition received more than 1,000 entries of design concepts, including narrative and graphic descriptions for the
Flight 93 National Memorial. The competition was funded through the generous support of the Heinz Endowments and the John
S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
The "Crescent of Embrace" memorial, created by a team of designers led by Paul Murdoch Architects of Los Angeles, was chosen
Wednesday September 7th, 2005 by the Flight 93 Advisory Commission with overwhelming support
from the Families of Flight 93 and the various partner organizations who are contributing to make the Memorial a reality.
The aim of the one-year competition was to honor the 40 passengers and crew who died after their plane was hijacked and crashed
in a field in rural Pennsylvania. The chapel, featuring 40 chimes symbolizing each of the victims, will stand at the entryway
to the vast park. The Memorial will be constructed in Shanksville, Somerset
County, Pennsylvania at the current temporary memorial site and will also include pedestrian trails and a roadway
leading to a visitor center and the actual crash site, which will be surrounded by a crescent of maple trees. The Memorial honors the passengers and crew members. Their names will be inscribed on a white
marble wall.
A 15-member jury made up of family members, community members and design professionals was tasked with making a final recommendation
on the design. Five finalists were selected from 1,011 designs. Murdoch's design still must get the approval of the director
of the National Park Service and the secretary of the Interior. By unveiling the design in Washington, organizers hope to
garner more publicity for their campaign to raise $30 million in private money for the project. The State of Pennsylvania
has already donated more than $10 million for the memorial. A projected date for the opening has not been set. Since the crash,
more than 130,000 people annually have visited a temporary memorial.
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Summary
of the winning proposal for The Memorial Site from Paul Murdoch Architects, Nelson Byrd Woltz, RBA Partners, Sato & Boppana,
Davis Langdon, George Saxton Associates, Clayton Lee Rugh, Paulynn Cue, Aleksander Novak-Zemplinski, Design Models, Inc.,
Steve Payne.
GATEWAY
Tall enough to be seen from the highway, the TOWER OF VOICES heroically
marks the entry to and exit from the Park. Set on a planted mound in a clearing, within resonating rings of White Pines, the
Tower houses forty white aluminum wind chimes. The continuing songs of chimes in the wind celebrate a living memory of those
who are honored. The outside of the curved concrete tower wall is finished with white glass mosaic tiles to create a reflective,
ephemeral quality, and blue plaster inside to evoke the sky. At night, the Tower interior is evenly grazed with light and
the exterior illuminated as a beacon. Near the Tower there is parking, public restrooms and an information/orientation kiosk.
APPROACH/RETURN
Visitors
are able to drive or bike through the site on the two-lane Approach Road, matching the route of the existing Haul Road, to
the entrance of the Bowl. Pedestrian trails, originating from the Tower, lead through the woods at the site’s western
edge and at higher elevations to the east overlooking the Park. A one-lane Return Road allows visitors elevated views of the
Tower to the north and views back to the Bowl. Areas of the mining landscape, especially with higher soil and water toxicity,
are treated with phytoremediation using plants such as poplars, sunflowers and mustards. The healing of the landscape prepares
the visitor, as a metaphor, for the emotional healing of the memorial. Existing draglines are removed but components, like
their buckets, are preserved to mark overlook locations.
BOWL
Through the gesture of embrace, a curving landform
formally de.nes the edge of the Bowl. The CRESCENT OF EMBRACE enhances the form and monumental scale of the Bowl to commemorate
the heroic actions of the passengers and crew of Flight 93. An allee of Red Maple trees gently descends around the Bowl, crossing
the wetlands, to the focal point of the Bowl, the Sacred Ground. Behind the walkway occur forty groves of Sugar and Red Maples
and a ring road that leads to parking near the Sacred Ground. Visitors can formally start their walk along the Crescent by
ascending a ramp that allows views into the Visitor Center. Pedestrian trails through the Bowl offer a variety of entrance
and exit routes to and from the Sacred Ground. Lighting at night supports the Crescent through recessed lights in the radiating
markers that face the Bowl. Benches along the allee have a recessed source to illuminate the path and each of their radiating
extensions through the groves are terminated at the ring road with a pole-mounted downlight.
The main entrance to the
Bowl occurs through the PORTAL, at the western end of the Crescent. Within warm-toned concrete walls, textured like local
cabins, the Portal frames the sky along the path of Flight 93 to the Crash Site. A black slate walkway leads visitors through
the first wall into the Portal Plaza featuring Red Maple trees. Marking the Flight Path, the walkway extends through the Plaza
and a second wall portal to give visitors their first look at the expanse of the Bowl and the Crash Site below. At the end
of this path is a sloped glass plaque inscribed with the Mission Statement. At night the Flight Path is illuminated with recessed
in-grade linear blue lines of gentle light that are perpendicular to the path flow to foster orientation and a rhythm of movement.
The glass memorial plaque is edge-lighted from the base of the panel, allowing the text and its meanings to glow and radiate
light.
The end of the Portal Plaza is open; giving a feeling of release to the overall Crescent. From the Plaza, the
public can enter the VISITOR CENTER that is integrated within the landform and walls of the Crescent. The Visitor Center is
the interpretive and educational hub of the Park; featuring exhibits about the history of the site, Flight 93, the passengers
and crew, and artifacts that have been left at the site, including the Temporary Memorial that is removed. Here, visitors
are able to leave written tributes. At night, the Visitor Center provides a lantern-like image by means of diffuse, glowing
light through an etched glass enclosure.
SACRED GROUND
The Sacred Ground is the final resting place of the passengers
and crew of Flight 93 and holds the everlasting memory of their courage. A black slate plaza and sloped wall form a front
to the Sacred Ground. From here the public can view into the Crash Site. Within the sloped wall, in front of benches at each
end of the plaza, are niches to accommodate remembrances from visitors. To prevent public intrusion, a vertical drop of 12
feet occurs behind the sloped wall. The lower area then slopes up to the edge of the Sacred Ground field. The field is planted
with low maintenance grasses; bulbs that include White Crocus, blooming white in Spring and Fall, Camassia, that blooms blue
during Memorial Day, Resurrection Flower, that blooms white or red in late Summer and Fall; and the perennials Rudbeckia,
which blooms yellow-orange in September, and Indian Blanket Flower, blooming red in Summer.
A white stone slab on the
Flight Path provides entry for families to the Sacred Ground. Offset concrete walls frame a gate, opened only for ceremonies
or family visits. The western wall holds a folded band of polished, translucent white marble with the forty names inscribed
in alphabetical order and the date of September 11, 2001. This marble band is backlighted at night from within the wall. A
cluster of American Beech trees at the walls and bench provide shade and shelter and are uplighted to foster intimacy and
indirect illumination of the area. As at the Portal, the Flight Path is illuminated with recessed in-grade linear blue lines
of gentle light perpendicular to the path. The fence line is changed to include the existing earth mound within the Sacred
Ground for family seating and contemplation. The Hemlock Grove and cabins are preserved to provide solitude and shelter to
family visitors.
PERIMETER/VIEWSHED
Existing tree coverage along the Park perimeter is preserved to maintain views
to and from the Memorial Expressions and to help decrease disturbance from outside the Park. This treatment, enjoyed along
trails at the eastern and western perimeter, encourages appreciation of the site as part of the unique landscape of the Laurel
Highlands. The northern perimeter includes woodland buffers to preserve a planted context for the Park entrance. The southern
viewshed preserves the rural backdrop to the Hemlock Grove and Sacred Ground.
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