9/11 Memorial Pools

The main features of the September 11, 2001 Memorial are two pools (9/11 Memorial Pools), each nearly four acres in size, located in the footprints of the former North and South Towers.

The pools contain the largest man-made waterfalls in North America, each with an internal height of 9.1 meters in a square basin. From there, the water in each pool drops another 20 feet and disappears into a smaller void.

According to the architect, Michael Arad, the pools represent “absence made visible”.

Although water flows into the pools, they can never be filled. The sound of cascading water makes the pools a place of calm and contemplation, separate from the bustling noises of the city.

The names of the 2,983 people killed in the 2001 and 1993 terrorist attacks are engraved on bronze parapets surrounding the memorial’s pools.

The names are grouped by the locations and conditions in which the victims were found during the attacks. The parapets of the North Pool include the names of those killed in the North Tower, the Flight 11 hijacking and the 1993 bombing.

The parapets of the South Pool include the names of the first responders, the victims killed in the South Tower as well as the victims of the hijackings of flights 175, 77 and 93.

Within these groupings, the names are arranged in a system of “significant adjacencies”. Friends and colleagues appear together, as well as the crews of each of the four flights and the first response services and units.

In addition, during the development of the Memorial, the next of kin of the victims were invited to request that the names of their loved ones be inscribed next to specific others. In this way, those who were joined in life remain together in eternity.