9/11 Living Memorial Plaza

Brief information

At the base of the Jerusalem obelisk is a piece of molten metal from the World Trade Center: it can be seen through the glass at the foot of the form resembling an American flag. As a result, the memorial functions not only as a sign of remembrance, but also as a place where a distant event is connected to a material fragment of the destroyed building.

The cenotaph stands in the Ramot neighborhood, at the center of a circular plaza measuring 20,234 m². From the plaza by the obelisk there is a view of Har HaMenuchot, Jerusalem’s main cemetery. This proximity changes the way the place is read: the list of names and the view of the cemetery appear side by side, although the monument itself is dedicated to people who died far from Israel.

What to notice first

It is worth comparing three parts of the monument: the flag, the flame, and the base with the glass. The 9.14-meter-high obelisk depicts an American flag that seems to be waving and, at its end, turns into a tongue of flame. This form connects a national symbol with the image of catastrophe without adding a separate figurative scene.

At the base, the important element is the molten metal from the World Trade Center visible through the glass: this small fragment explains why a monument in Jerusalem is connected specifically with New York. Another detail is the metal plaque with the names of all 2,977 victims, including five Israeli citizens. The names are engraved in such a way that the list seems to have neither beginning nor end; because of this, the plaque reads not as an informational inscription, but as a continuous ring of memory.