These requirements were greatly complicated by the consensus that, as part of any memorial, the footprints of the twin towers should not be built over.
At the helm will be Michael Arad, the designer of the poignant and provocative 9/11 memorial in the footprint of the former World Trade Center.
The memorial lies in the footprint of the Twin Towers; the names of the dead surround two pools into which waterfalls run.
The official ground zero memorial, with its tower footprint pools and bronze list of victims' names, opens on Sept. 12, with the associated museum scheduled to open a year from then.
The master plan that was eventually selected, by Daniel Libeskind, split the difference, arranging a number of office towers around a memorial space occupying the footprint of the Twin Towers.
A few of the finalists' designs are promising and could be developed to work reasonably well with Daniel Libeskind's master plan for Ground Zero, which calls for depressing the memorial area around the footprints of the original twin towers.
Four of the seven teams that presented new designs called for some space to be set aside as part of a memorial beneath the tower footprints, as the outline of the towers' exterior walls is known.
Reflecting Absence, dedicated on September 11 , 2011 is the contemplative memorial which marks the footprints of the old towers; the building of One World Trade Center is moving along at an encouraging pace.
Close "Reflecting Absence," the memorial built in the "footprints" of the former towers with its grove of trees, giant pools, and multiple waterfalls before it can be unveiled this Sunday.
The 9/11 memorial itself, which covers the footprint of the former twin towers, was so far behind schedule that it is now being hastily constructed, out of sequence, so that it will be ready by the 10th anniversary of the tragedy.
Foster & Partners also expressed the memorial area as within the footprints of the towers.
