An Ohio State professor’s design for a memorial dedicated to the Sept. 11 victims of United Airlines Flight 93 is one of five finalists in a national design competition.
Laurel McSherry, head of the landscape architecture program at OSU, put together the design, titled “Fields, Forests, Fences” with the help of Terry Surjan, an architecture professor at Arizona State University.
The design has four elements that would cover the 2,200-acre crash site in Shanksville, Pa: including a memorial fence for visitors to leave tags inscribed with messages, McSherry said.
“Every time people visit the memorial, individuals make an effort to mark that sight further, to leave something behind,” McSherry said. “This summer, I saw it and was struck by the attempts of people to leave things there. That inspired the fence.
“The tags allow people to leave messages, sentiments and wishes behind,” she said. “The memorial is one that is constantly changing, being created by the people that participate by visiting.”
Surjan said the design includes tombstones inscribed with the names of the 40 passengers and crew killed in the crash and a ribbon of hemlock and white birch trees that would guide visitors to the site.
The entire memorial site, from the visitor center to the sacred ground markers, was a collaborative design, Surjan said.
“We used both of our skills very well,” he said.
Designers had to create a bird’s-eye-view of their concept on a 30-by-40 inch board, McSherry said, with 250 words explaining the design’s concept.
The panel that selected the five finalists from 1,011 submissions included professional architects and family members of the victims.
McSherry said the next stage of designs are due June 15 for final judging. The winning design will be announced Sept. 11.
