9/11 Postcards

Sharing the Memorials Registry is a series devoted to highlighting the diverse ways in which individuals and communities commemorate the 9/11 victims through the creation of public memorials. Learn more at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum’s Memorials Registry, which tracks 9/11 Memorials throughout the world.

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​“Postcards” is a memorial honoring the 263 Staten Island residents killed in the September 11 attacks and 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Adjacent is a separate memorial to 73 Staten Island first responders who have died in recent years from exposure to toxic substances at the WTC site in the aftermath of 9/11.

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The designer, architect Masayuki (Masa) Sono, told me he wanted an idea that was “not about design or architecture or religion or politics,” but a “motif from daily life.” In his words:

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It originates in a desire to create a place that connects the victims back to us. It is conceived as two enlarged postcards symbolizing personal communications between loved ones. They are folded to reflect the messages being personal, and its abstract quality to inspire people to find different meanings into it.