Somerset, Pa. — The international design competition for the Flight 93 National Memorial opened its doors to the public today. The public has the opportunity to view and comment on the five final designs on display at The Shops at Georgian Place in Somerset, Pa., as well as online at www.flight93memorialproject.org. The design competition’s public exhibit remains open through Sept. 25, 2005.
“We are entering into the next phase of the design competition,” said John Reynolds, chairman of the Flight 93 Advisory Commission. “This stage is very important to the competition because it’s the first opportunity for the public to view the final site plans firsthand and share their comments on the designs.”
The public comments will be compiled in a report for the final selection jury, but will not be considered as votes. The jury is composed of distinguished design professionals, family members, and the public from the local and national communities.
The five final design teams include:
- DISTURBED HARMONY
Leor and Gilat Lovenger, with Office of Lawrence Halprin, San Francisco, Calif.
- (F)LIGHT- A Luminous Roofscape
Ken Lum with Dennis Fanti, Yvonne Lam and Ivan Ilic, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- FIELDS, FORESTS, FENCES
Lauren McSherry, Terry Surjan with Luke Kautz, Marita Roos, Teresa Durkin and Randall Mason, Columbus, Ohio
- CRESCENT OF EMBRACE
Paul Murdoch Architects with Nelson Bryd Waltz, Los Angeles, Calif.
- MEMORY TRAIL
Jason Kentner, Karen Lewis, E. Lynn Miller, FALSA, and Frederick Steiner, FASA. Austin, Texas
The international design competition provides professionals in the design disciplines as well as the general public an opportunity to present design ideas for the memorial expression. Designers were encouraged to portray the issues, ideas and passion of the Mission Statement in thinking about their plans for the national memorial. The Mission Statement states that the memorial will serve as a place to commemorate the actions of the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who “courageously gave their lives thereby thwarting a planned attack on the Nation’s Capital.”
“The design process is not only characterized by its strict adherence to professional industry standards but also is unique in that we invited participation from the families, partners and public,” said Helene Fried, design competition adviser. “It has been a terrific experience learning from one another.”
“The families are thankful to the talented designers for their time, effort and compassion in developing their memorial plans,” said Hamilton Peterson, chairman of the Families of Flight 93 board.
The Flight 93 National Memorial project is making design competition history as this is the first time an entire national park site is being designed through a design competition. The competition received more than 1,000 submissions. The winning design will be announced Sept. 7, 2005.
About the Flight 93 National Memorial
On Sept. 24, 2002, Congress passed the Flight 93 National Memorial Act. The act created a new national park unit to “commemorate the passengers and crew of Flight 93 who, on Sept. 11, 2001, courageously gave their lives thereby thwarting a planned attack on our Nation’s Capital.” The memorial will reside at the crash site near Shanksville, Pa., where Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.