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If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. That is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. — Henry David Thoreau
The World Trade Center will never be complete — for the compelling reasons that are discussed on the 2025 In Memoriam page — until the sacred unidentified remains are brought up to the Plaza level. Everything in this proposal flows from that imperative. We believe that the current configuration of the site, which has provided some important measure of healing, is not suited to be the United States’ permanent tribute to the fallen. And it is certainly not the focal point of overcoming and vigilance that our nation badly needs and truly deserves. There is a lack of respect and reverence on the memorial plaza that is the inevitable result of spreading the Memorial all over the quadrant. The TTA plan concentrates the Memorial and Museum at the west end of the site, while the property to the east is open to the enjoyment of life. We welcome calls for the National Park Service to take over the Memorial and Museum. But we believe the entire quadrant should be federalized — in recognition of the hundreds of citizens of other states and other countries who lost their lives on 9/11 — in order to open the way for a spectacular American renaissance. To supporters who were frustrated by the years of waiting for this plan, we were frustrated, too. We had the vision but not the words. So many times it seemed “the time” had come, when it hadn’t — and now it has. And as one of Victor Hugo’s variations on the theme explains: “No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come.” An overview of the plan follows. When an element is expanded we will link the heading to pages with Updated on 9/13/25 An alabaster Tomb of the Unknowns and an Eternal Flame would be placed at the far end of the broad avenue that runs from the east to the west of the quadrant. The two massive tridents would be placed behind the tomb with the 9/11 Flag, sealed in glass, hanging between them. The flags of every nation that lost a citizen would wave from flagpoles that run along the western edge of the site and around the corners of Liberty and Fulton Streets. A plaque with the respective names would be at the base of each flagpole. The functions of the two utility structures would be relocated and the Snohetta pavilion would be removed, since the museum will be relocated, making it no longer needed. A well-defined memorial precinct will be formed by arranging the bronze parapets with the names (maintaining the meaningful adjacencies) on either side of the vault, in the manner diagrammed here. And on the outside of the two entrance walls would be inscribed the expanding list of names (with ranks) of every one who has fallen as a result of their work to remove the infernal “Pile” of destruction. The Museum Updated on 9/13/25 We have always been disturbed by symbolism of an obelisk — an internationally recognized funereal shape — rising at One World Trade Center. But standing beside the new memorial grounds, with the unidentified remains lying in repose, the victims’ names flanking the tomb on either side, the flags flying, and the Eternal Flame bearing constant witness, the symbolism becomes entirely fitting and uplifting. As the new home to the 9/11 Museum, with the exhibits transferred from their underground location to a new windowless space in the concrete base, the Freedom Tower tribute would extend to the observatory, dedicated as a Hall of Heroes, along with meeting rooms, exhibition and auditorium spaces, and a private space for 9/11 Families to look down on the dignified, solemn Memorial and find peace. The Sphere Updated on 9/13/25 The German artist Fritz Koenig was commissioned to design a sculpture dedicated to World Peace through World Trade. It sat in the center of a 90-foot wide fountain in the plaza between the Towers and rotated once every 24 hours. It was the only WTC structure to miraculously survive the destruction of 9/11 and was later rehabilitated as much as it could be by its creator. There was a great deal of support for returning it to the Plaza, where it would have been an inspiring witness to the American spirit of overcoming. But it was too evocative and authentic for the corporate rebuilding agenda. After years of tireless lobbying to “Save The Sphere” by a 9/11 Family Member (whose remarks are on the next page) it was located across the street in Liberty Park. The TTA location of The Sphere would be between the Twin Towers but much closer to the Memorial side of the quadrant. Updated on 9/16/25 Rebuilding the Twin Towers was always the “right thing to do” because that is what most Americans wanted. Not all of us, but most of us. We all became stakeholders in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, when Islamist terrorists who hated the notion of freedom, shot holes in the heart and the gut of the nation — but what we wanted didn’t matter. When President Bush addressed the people that night he said that Freedom had been attacked and would be defended. But in the days and years that followed, Democracy got mugged over and over again, by our own politicians and the corporate media that followed their lead. Thousands of American citizens were executed on 9/11 because they were Americans — but what the American people wanted didn’t count. In the 7/21/02 New Yorker, architecture critic Paul Goldberger wrote: “In fact, if there was ever a piece of land that should be treated as part of the public domain, it is this one.” The Rooftops Updated on 9/13/25 A Port Authority ad in the 1980s for the rooftop observation deck cautioned: “And after dark, please don’t touch the stars.” That epitomized the Towers’ allure. And there is nothing in the city or country or world today that can come close to that appeal. Looking back, it was such a disappointment when bad weather meant that a “Roof Closed” sign stretch across the Observatory escalator to the roof. No matter how high, an indoor observatory is definitely a consolation prize. The TTA concept does not include an antenna so there will be two rooftops for the public to enjoy — one would be above the restaurant and catering functions in Tower One and the other above the “Top of the World” observatory in Tower Two. At 2000-feet high, they would never be the highest outdoor decks on earth, but they would surely be the most spectacular and the most celebrated. The Plaza Updated on 9/13/25 The sprawling memorial has given the so-called World Trade Center “campus” an ill-defined, hybrid quality. The resulting lack of reverence has often been seen as jarring and disrespectful. With a noble 9/11 memorial and glade concentrated at the west end of the site and the 9/11 museum right next to it, the open spaces can become places of celebration and recreation. Umbrellaed tables opposite the Oculus would be popular gathering places before heading into the Performing Arts complex or back to work in the World Trade Center offices. Open-air events would include concerts, movies, and pop-up shops. The Bells Updated on 9/17/25 In 2008, a very imaginative memorial organization reached out to Ken Gardner to suggest blending their ideas for a memorial with the Belton-Gardner Twin Towers II plan. What was most memorable about the “World Memorial”, which was founded by Firefighter Mitch Mendler and an American Airlines pilot, was that it included the largest carillon in the world. The idea of a full carillon suspended between the flagpoles, chiming every hour, adds a dimension to the memorial that we would love to see. Updated on 9/21/25 There is a fully developed plan to make this proposal a reality but it will not be made public at this time. Updated on 9/18/25 “Dream No Small Dreams” was the byword of the man who spearheaded the World Trade Center project in 1962, Executive Director of the Port Authority Austin J. Tobin. He may have been thinking of the words of Daniel Burnham, the American architect and urban planner who designed the Flatiron Building and was instrumental in the development of the skyscraper: “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood…” — or of the better know quote of the German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: “Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” But in any case, they were the words that built the Twin Towers. On the 50th anniversary of their formal opening we posted: “On this Golden Anniversary of the World Trade Center’s opening on April 4, 1973, we affirm our belief in its founding vision as a ‘living symbol of man’s dedication to world peace… a representation of man’s belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his belief in the cooperation of men, and, through cooperation, his ability to find greatness.’ We believe in the dream of a Golden Age of Brotherhood and our faith is strong that restoring the Twin Towers’ transcendent presence in the world’s skyline would be a triumph for humanity and the surest way to a better world.” When Philippe Petit, one of the earliest signers of the Twin Towers Alliance petition, spent almost an hour dancing on a wire between the Twin Towers in 1974, he epitomized the courage and joy that dreaming no-small-dreams requires and inspires. What many might call a death wish, he calls “a life wish.” When Mr. Petit accepted an award at the 2008 Sundance Festival ceremonies for his work on “Man on Wire,” he urged: “keep moving mountains, keep growing wings, keep dreaming…” It Is Not Too Late To Do The Right Thing Updated on 9/18/25 Opposites need each other. Drawing out and entertaining each other’s better angels will heal the division that has undermined our best efforts for decades. Just as a bird needs two wings working together to fly, so do we need our two wings working together to solve our toughest problems and achieve our fondest dreams. We can only overcome the bitterness and hardness of heart that divides us by flying higher — to gain more perspective and charity. When solidarity becomes a habit, an evermore “perfect union” will stop looking like an impossible dream. Updated on 9/18/25
When The Blueprint is finished, the basic proposal can be understood by reading the text on this page.   
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