KEN SMITH WORKSHOP
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE URBANISM ART
 American Express 11 Tears Memorial, NYC
Start Date: 2002 Completion Date: 2003 American Express, Client Mehendra Sheth Consulting, Engineering Lawrence Stoller / CrystalWorks, Artist Graham Hansen Design, Graphic Designer Dan Euser Water Architecture, Fountain Consultant Susan Randolph Fine Arts, Art Consultant Peter Mauss / ESTO, Photography Eleven Tears was commissioned by the American Express Corporation in memory of seven employees who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. Located in the ground floor lobby of Three World Financial Center the memorial is within view of the Trade Center site. Water, light, crystal, stone and metal form a powerful presence in the space that is abstract from a distance and intensely personal up close. Water drops fall from a seven-sided ceiling canopy into a seven-sided black granite reflecting pool of water. Suspended over the water surface is a 600-pound natural quartz crystal cut with seven facets that capture and reflect light in a beautiful way. The names of the seven victims are inscribed in the pool coping and brief remembrances are set into the pool bottom. The falling tear drops create small ripples in the still water of the pool providing a subtle animation and a quiet sound.

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