'Meaningful Adjacencies' Shape Design of 9/11 Memorial

The National September 11 Memorial & Museum today released the final arrangement of the 2,982 names—representing the men, women and children killed in the September 11, 2001  and February 26, 1993 terrorist attacks—that will appear on the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site. The names arrangement can be explored through a unique web application launched today.

Before the announcement, a personalized worldwide mailing was sent to more than 3,500 victims’ next-of-kin, informing them of the location of their loved ones’ names and the launch of the special website that displays the final arrangement. 

The website, called the Memorial Guide, provides way-finding to individual names and groups, such as flights and companies, on the Memorial. The site also reveals the layers of meaning that underlie the arrangement and displays brief biographical information about the victims, as provided by next-of-kin. The same application will be available on mobile smartphones, tablet computers and on electronic kiosks on the plaza of the Memorial when it opens in September.

The names arrangement is based on a system of “meaningful adjacencies” that reflect where the victims were on 9/11 and relationships they shared with others who were lost that day.  The system allows relatives, friends, co-workers and people who had just met but shared their last moments together to be listed side by side on the Memorial.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff