It seems every September 11 brings with it a new chapter in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, and this year is no exception, as officials from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum released new renderings and information about the design and programming of the below-ground museum. Designed by Davis Brody Bond Aedas, the museum creates a dramatic procession from the memorial plaza and the Snohetta-designed pavilion down to bedrock, where two main exhibition halls will be located on the footprints of the original Twin Towers.


"It’s an organic form embedded in the site, and it can serve as a mediator between the harsh realities of the site and those visiting it." Steven Davis, a partner at the firm, said at a presentation this morning at the new memorial visitor center on Vesey Street. The physical museum and its contents are indeed designed around the tension created by its competing missions. "It is necessary to balance what is essentially an archeological site with a powerful memorial and an informative museum that tells the story of the site," Alice Greenwald, director of the museum, said.



As has been the case since Daniel Liebeskind presented his master plan for Ground Zero in 2003, the museum is very much about the remnants of the original World Trade Center. A suspended walkway slopes gently through the site "drawing visitors in as if by gravity," Davis said, with overlooks cut throughout to present the vastness of the site while also bringing visitors down some seven stories to the base of the museum. These vistas expose views of the slurry wall.

At a point halfway between the tower volumes, the ribbon turns to align with the "Survivor’s Stair," the original World Trade Center egress that survived the towers collapse and has been reinstalled as a connection those escaping the destruction of September 11 and those returning to bear witness to it. Finally, visitors will reach bedrock 71 feet below the memorial plaza. There they will find remnants of the original tower, such as the original column bases and concrete footings, another marker joining the past and the present.



On this level permanent and temporary exhibitions will be staged, including a number of in situ artifacts recovered from Ground Zero. Among them them is the "Last Column," the final piece of steel removed from the site that accumulated remembrances and mementos during the rescue and recovery effort. It will stand at the base of the ribbon, one of the first things visitors see upon arrival to this sacred spot.



As for the exhibitions, they will strive to tell the story of the events of the day as well as those that led up to it and have occurred since as a result. "We will not shy away from a difficult subject matter," Greenwald said. But Joe Daniels, president of the memorial, stressed that those exhibits will also not be political in nature, striving for original sources. "We will stick to the authentic history, stick to the facts and letting people interpret for themselves," he said.

To help gather source material, the museum launched 911history.org, .