Memories, Ghosts, and Scars: Architecture and Trauma in New York and Hiroshima

Abstract

Published in “Architecture: Re‐building the Future,” ed. Sunil Bald and Yolande Daniels, special issue, Review of Japanese Culture and Society XIII (2001): 51–57. Memories, Ghosts, and Scars: Architecture and Trauma in New York and Hiroshima SUNIL BALD Within days of the September 11 attack and the subsequent collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, New York’s architectural society was opining as to what the architectural response to this calamity should be. With one notable exception (the firm Diller and Scofidio stated, “Let’s not build something that would mend the skyline. It is more powerful to leave it void. We believe it would be tragic to erase the erasure”), there was a consensus to “re‐build” the towers, despite likely differences regarding their aesthetic updating. From the old‐guard patriarch of New York architecture, Philip Johnson, to the dean of Columbia’s progressive architecture school, Bernard Tschumi, there was agreement in terms for an expedient architectural replacement. Whatever they take down, we’ll rebuild. I think we should provide the same amount of office space, that it’s the least we can do (Philip Johnson). 1 Of course one has to rebuild, bigger and better. There should be offices and a mix of activities, both cultural and business. Yes, there should be a place to mourn, but that shouldn’t be the main thing. It must be a place looking into the future, not the past (Bernard Tschumi). 2 Although thousands of individuals lost their lives in the attack, it was obvious that for New York architects, these two towers, which had previously been aesthetically and architecturally reviled, were also victims of the day. The towers