In 2003 , the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation launched the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition , an international competition to design a memorial at the World Trade Center site to commemorate the lives lost on 9/11 . Individuals and teams from around the world submitted design proposals . On November 19 , 2003 , the thirteen-member jury selected eight finalists . '' Reflecting Absence '' , designed by Michael Arad and Peter Walker , was chosen as the winning design on January 6 , 2004 . It consists of a field of trees interrupted by two large , recessed pools , the footprints of the Twin Towers . The deciduous trees ( swamp white oaks ) are arranged in rows and form informal clusters , clearings and groves . The park is at street level , above the Memorial Museum . The names of the victims of the attacks ( including those from the Pentagon , American Airlines Flight 77 , United Airlines Flight 93 , and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing ) are inscribed on the parapets surrounding the waterfalls in an arrangement of " meaningful adjacencies " . A portion of the slurry wall originally designed to hold back the Hudson River , about half of what Daniel Libeskind originally wanted to preserve , is maintained in the museum . On January 14 , 2004 , the final design for the World Trade Center site memorial was unveiled at a press conference in Federal Hall National Memorial
1993 World Trade Center bombing
1993 World Trade Center bombing
National September 11 Memorial & Museum