WTC memorial contest opens

Every victim will be honoured

A worldwide competition to design a memorial to the thousands of victims of the attacks on the World Trade Center has been launched.

Organisers say they will consider entries from anyone and any place.

The design will form a key part of the larger memorial site at Ground Zero, including the "footprints" of the two towers which came crashing down on 11 September, 2001.

Architect Daniel Libeskind won a contest to design replacement buildings for the area and organisers are now looking for the "centrepiece".

Correspondents say the memorial needs to be an emotional cornerstone for relatives and visitors.

A few guidelines have been laid down, but on paper the competition is open to anybody aged over 18 who registers by 29 May, pays a $25 fee and submits entries by 30 June.

This memorial will be for all the people of New York and really the world, but especially for all the familie

Paula Grant Berry,
Victim's widow

Designs must include individual recognition for each of the victims of the 2001 attacks on the twin towers, the Pentagon in Washington and Flight 93 which crashed in Pennsylvania after being hijacked.

The six people killed in the 1993 bomb attack on the World Trade Center must also be honoured and there must be room to make a final resting place for unidentified remains of victims.

John Whitehead, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation which is responsible for the rebuilding of the site, called on entrants to "unleash your creativity".

Vietnam echoes

One of the judges will be Maya Lin, who submitted her winning design for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington when she was still a student.

The Vietnam Wall is a powerful monument

The wall - etched with the names of all those service personnel killed or missing in Vietnam - is considered one of the most successful public memorials of recent years.

Ms Lin will be one of the judges for the World Trade Center competition.

"I hope we get submissions from people who just believe that their solution is right and they need to say it for them, and that's very important," she said.

Among the other judges is Paula Grant Berry, whose husband David was killed in the south tower.

She said: "This memorial will be for all the people of New York and really the world, but especially for all the families.

"I am determined that a memorial will be built where we will be proud to bring our children."

About five designs will be short listed and then displayed for public comment before a final decision is taken in the autumn.