Pentagon September 11th Memorial Design

[One Skunk Todd]

I've never been especially thrilled with the Pentagon memorial design and now that it's complete I realize why. From a distance it looks like a bunch of giant Swingline staplers sitting in a gravel field. (It does to me anyway.)

This image particularly emphasizes that aspect:
http://media.hamptonroads.com/cache/files/images/168321.jpg

From this angle, lighted and without the covers the effect is not as noticeable but I still can't shake that stapler-y feeling.
http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2008-09/42281486.jpg

Oh well, I certainly couldn't do any better (very likely much worse).

[sabianq]

well today, they are opening it (actually, right now, bush is speaking at it).

but i have one contention, i work in washington d.c. and the fact that they closed many roads around the area and several more traffic accidents than normal that may have already resulted in a few fatalities really upsets me as a D.C. commuter.

I wish they could have waited until rush hour was over before they closed the roads.

[sarongsong]

...From a distance it looks like a bunch of giant Swingline staplers...Now that you mention it, it sure does!...The memorial will honor the 184 victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks at The Pentagon. At the heart of the memorial will be 184 illuminated benches, arranged according to the victim's ages, from 3 to 71, in a landscaped 1.93-acre (7,800 m2) plot with the name of each victim engraved on the end of the benches...
wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagon_Memorial#Design_and_construction)

[Abbadon_2008]

In keeping with the 'no politics' rule, I'll ditch ideological rantings.

But for me, this is a day that has been permanently etched into my brain. Any thought that extends beyond a couple minutes, or involves any recollections of that morning, brings me to the brink of tears.

I watched the events unfold, live and in color. Even as I write this, I fight back the swelling lump in my throat. Even seven years later, my memories are a vivid as ever. Every sight, every sound, every moment is carried with me. And they will be till I slough off this mortal coil.

Too many people have forgotten what that day truly meant. Too many have let it slip away into obscurity. Too many never really understood it to begin with.

But I reocrded days of footage on VHS. One day, if I can figure out how, I want to put it all on DVD for posterity's sake.

And yeah, the memorial does look like a collection of giant staples.

[InfoMedic]

I wish that event never happened. As with the others.

[megrfl]

We don't know what the thought process was that went into their design. I think it looks somewhat futuristic (as far as benches go), maybe with the idea of moving forward? I don't want to say I don't like it, maybe when the trees have grown it will look more appealing, as for now, I have to agree; the benches really do look like staplers.

[Nick Theodorakis]

There were many monuments and other buildings that were criticized when built, but have become accepted over time, such as the Vietnam War Memorial. Even the Eiffel Tower was called an eyesore by many after it was built.

Nick

[HenrikOlsen]

Even the Eiffel Tower was called an eyesore by many after it was built.
But remember that the Eiffel Tower was intended to be temporary, the others was supposed to be looked at for a long time, that makes for different aesthetic choices.

[publiusr]

I might have tried the Escher route and had a sculpture similar to this as a memorial: http://www.cs.technion.ac.il/~gershon/EscherForReal/Penrose5Real.gif
http://www.cs.technion.ac.il/~gershon/EscherForReal/