The Tower of Voices, part of the last major phase of work at the Flight 93 National Memorial located in Somerset County, Penn., where United Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001, is conceived as both a musical instrument and a tower.
The 93-foot-tall precast tower comprises 40 custom-made aluminum wind chimes, with each chime producing a distinct musical note. Together, these chimes create a set of “40 voices” to memorialize the 40 passengers and crew who lost their lives when the flight was hijacked by terrorists. The chimes are suspended at variable heights, starting 20 feet above the main plaza and ascending to the top. The customizable features included in the precast concrete will enable the chimes to “sing” even at low wind speeds.
The tower form is designed as an enclosure that cradles the 40 chimes and opens towards the public plaza on which it stands. The precast concrete columns with branch connectors abstractly recall the Hemlock grove near the crash site. Precast concrete was used for the tower to accommodate the complex and unusual shapes of each component and because it had the strength needed to support the tall, slender frame.
The design process included a combination of consultants including a musician, chimes artist, acoustical engineer, and wind consultants. Diagonal column splices allowed the joints to blend in with diagonal beams. At the joints, pockets and splines aligned the column pairs vertically, creating symmetry in a structure with various angles, curves, and heights.
The project acts as a landmark memorial feature near the entrance of the park.
Related Stories
| Jan 19, 2012
Odebrecht and Braskem bring sustainable award to U.S. university students
The Odebrecht Award for sustainable development rewards future leaders in engineering and chemistry.
| Jan 8, 2012
TCA releases The Construction of Tilt-Up
The newest publication from the TCA is the second in a planned trilogy of resources covering the architecture, engineering and construction of Tilt-Up
| Jan 4, 2012
HDR to design North America’s first fully digital hospital
Humber River is the first hospital in North America to fully integrate and automate all of its processes; everything is done digitally.
| Jan 3, 2012
VDK Architects merges with Harley Ellis Devereaux
Harley Ellis Devereaux will relocate the employees in its current Berkeley, Calif., office to the new Oakland office location effective January 3, 2012.
| Jan 3, 2012
New Chicago hospital prepared for pandemic, CBR terror threat
At a cost of $654 million, the 14-story, 830,000-sf medical center, designed by a Perkins+Will team led by design principal Ralph Johnson, FAIA, LEED AP, is distinguished in its ability to handle disasters.
| Jan 3, 2012
AIA Course: New Developments in Concrete Construction
Earn 1.0 AIA/CES learning units by studying this article and successfully completing the online exam.
| Dec 20, 2011
BCA’s Best Practices in New Construction available online
This publicly available document is applicable to most building types and distills the long list of guidelines, and longer list of tasks, into easy-to-navigate activities that represent the ideal commissioning process.
| Dec 19, 2011
Chicago’s Aqua Tower wins international design award
Aqua was named both regional and international winner of the International Property Award as Best Residential High-Rise Development.
| Dec 19, 2011
Summit Design+Build selected as GC for Chicago recon project
The 130,000 square foot building is being completely renovated.
| Dec 16, 2011
Stalco Construction converts Babylon, N.Y. Town Hall into history museum
The project converted the landmark structure listed on the National Register of Historic Places into the Town of Babylon History Museum at Old Town Hall.