Larry Pogue Sculpture Studio

Pogue in the News

World Trade Center Memorial
Competition Entry

Click each image for a larger view

LMDC Proposed Memorial Installation
My God, how could this happen in our country! This monument must work to portray what happened to the innocent people on 9/11 . Past memorials, like the crosses at Arlington Cemetery and the empty chairs at Oklahoma City, are wonderful memorials, but they are not appropriate to convey the massive loss of life felt in this tragedy. The disastrous devastation of so many innocent people must be shown by depicting the masses of people murdered.

This memorial will include a total of 3,016 life-size stainless steel sculptures of men, women, firefighters, policemen and children-1,508 sculptures in each footprint of the North and Sout Towers-walking in arbitrary directions. There will be approximately 15 one-inch thick sculptures per 21 square feet in each footprint. The men sculptures will be 5'8", women 5'2" and children 4' tall.

The use of stainless steel as a medium will add another dimension to the memorial. As visitors approach a sculpture, they will be able to see enough of their own reflection to remind them that the victims of 9/11 were everyday people-fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters . . . just like themselves. It will remind them that 9/11 was an attack on all of us.

When visitors come to the edge of the monument and look down to see the massive amount of people murdered, their eyes will well up with tears and they will say , "My God, (with a lump in their throat) How could this have happened?"

This awful act of violence will never be forgotten in the history of the world. When people walk away from this memorial, it will be etched in their minds forever. It will be an inspiration for freedom.

Profile Images

In the north and south footprints of the towers, the 3,016 stainless steel sculptures of men, women, firefighters, policemen and children will be

represented by their gender , but not exact portraits of the individual person who was killed. The name of each victim will be laser cut in a belt-like manor around the waist of a sculpture so family and friends can identify their loved one. These profiles could be altered to better represent an individual victim if the family supplied the necessary specifications with appropriate arrangements.

The walking silhouette or standing stainless steel person will be bolted to a plate of stainless steel which is attached to an elevated grid that is ground level in a checker board pattern. The grid will allow water to escape when it rains or snows. A lighting system will be located under the grid and at night a soft iridescent glow will filter up through the cracks. (Beneath the grid will be a basement-like maintenance area for user friendly lighting repair , electric and other maintenance issues such as water drainage filters, etc.)

The grid system will allow people to walk any place with their own path, but designated spacing will allow easy accessibility to any of the stainless steel people portrayed.

Locator Kiosks

Six kiosks stations will be located around the footprints to help visitors to
the memorial locate any

person whose name is on the list. There will be

four kiosks for the north, and four for the south. People can come to the kiosk, type in the name of a loved one and the programmed kiosk will locate the person with a printed map and specific area of where to find the sculpture.

To cover the overhead and to prevent people from abusing the kiosks, some type of control should be implemented-perhaps a monetary donation. The document the kiosk provides will have specific data on the person who was killed, including a small biography.

It is pertinent to have these kiosks, because with 3,016 sculptures, it could take several hours or even days to locate a sculpture whom someone may have brought a rose or other memento to place in memory of their loved one. The kiosk also will be equipped to allow the blind to read in brail the story of the footprints and monumental sculpture.

Monumental Fountain Sculpture

The monumental fountain sculpture is designed to echo the staggering numbers of souls leaving the earth and going into the Heavens. At the center of the two tower-like fountains are the reverse of the stainless steel sculptures-the portion left after each of the one-inch thick sculptures located in the footprints was cut out. The effect will be like seeing the souls of the 3,016 men, women, firefighters, policemen and children who were murdered in the attacks.

The fountain is parallel to the West Street Memorial site boundary and is 112 feet square with a reflecting pool, which will be 15 feet away from the bottom edge of the sculpture base. There will be 18 levels with approximately 32 people per level and raising 110 feet into the air to symbolize the 110 stories of the Twin Towers.

Water will be piped up to the top of the two tower-like fountains and it will stream down the outside of the stainless steel structure from 84 nozzles. The structures will not be perfectly square, but tapered toward the base and slightly twisted. This will allow the water flowing 110 feet down the armature to create a mist and cloud effect. This process of eruption will last 15 minutes every hour, giving a serene effect to the massive exodus of souls leaving the earth on September 11 , 2001.

As one comes down the west ramp, the background of the waterfall will be seen in the distance (the perfect backdrop for the monumental sculpture) and you will be able to see through the waterfall beyond. The handrail on each ramp will have in Brail the description of what the sighted people are witnessing. Under the water of the reflecting pool, green, blue and purple lasers will accentuate the water effect and will come on at the same time the fountain starts. Light always amplifies when it hits water and the whole sculpture will come alive and be breathtaking! Heaven knows that the people killed deserves this monumental sculpture to remember them by, and every one will!

Shadow Effect

The shadow effect will be in the exposed aggregate on the walking surface. Dark area and light areas show the shadows cast by the Twin Towers (the light purple areas on the illustration). Note: this is the exact same shadow that was cast on 9/11/2001.

Quiet Space

There will be four 24-foot wide ramps descending around the fountain where people can observe the fountain, base of the sculpture and lights below the water . The adjacent wall across from the geometric window, which will echo the pattern in the museum windows, would be a place where the unidentified remains would be kept. This opposite wall from the windows will be in bronze with the same geometric pattern as the windows. In the open flat areas, the quote, "Rest in Peace, because you will never be forgotten," will be written in 92 different languages to signify the 92 countries that lost people.

There will be benches set up where people can sit and quietly reflect on what this entire memorial represents.

The lighting in this area should be very reverential, and the ambiance that of a cathedral. This should be a quiet zone, and talking should be prohibited.