Ground Zero Memorial Tower
As part of the KMD design team, Daniel participated in the Ground Zero public competition to replace the lost World Trade Center towers. The new development model proposed to create a community for promoting peace and understanding through dialogue. Tenants would include, a World University, various nations Consulates, Research Organizations, the World Bank, the United Nations, Think Tanks, NGO’s and other Cultural organizations. In essence, the project symbolized a means for peace and prosperity to exist through an open society that encourages differences to co-exist and evolve continually through dialogue. The physical design focuses on three distinct features: 1) Sacred Ground – by “floating” the towers on pilotis, the ground level will be opened up for an extensive park that acts as the physical memorial with a tree for each victim and a series of public spaces that provides relief from the density of the city. 2) Sky Gardens – by creating a third entity to connect the two proposed towers, the team envisioned a series of landscaped atriums that exposes the neutral meeting points that connect the diverse users to dialogue. 3) Vertical city – by building two towers that are taller than the original WTC, the desire was that the commitment and statement of such an undertaking would signal to the world that we as a society are capable of learning and evolving from such a tragic event.