Does The Flight 93 Memorial Contain A Subliminal Message?

Take a look at the proposed design for the Flight 93 Memorial near Shanksville. It is being called "The Crescent of Embrace:"

Clicking on the design will take you to the story.

Here's the quote:

"Crescent of Embrace" will feature a Tower of Voices, containing 40 wind chimes -- one for each passenger and crew member who died -- and two stands of red maple trees that will line a walkway caressing the natural bowl shape of the land. Forty separate groves of red and sugar maples will be planted behind the crescent, and a black slate wall will mark the edge of the crash site, where the remains of those who died now rest.

As the black cloak that had hidden the winner was removed, a collective gasp came from those gathered, who then rose to their feet to applaud.

It seems to me that there may be some well-meaning ignorance about the significance of the crescent in Islam, and I may be overly sensitive, but isn't this a little too much for this memorial?

This is from the designers:

The idea of the Crescent of Embrace, Murdoch said, is to be a gesture of healing and bonding. The crescent marks the edge of the land, which will remain largely untouched.

"It's simple and yet it's complex," said Dorothy Garcia, whose husband, Andy, died in the crash. "The void that's there speaks so loudly to the heroism of these 40 souls."

Excuse me, but how does a void speak at all? And since when is a crescent a "gesture of healing and bonding?" This whole scene smacks of "artistic" tone-deafness.

I'm not the only one who feels this way. Here's an opinion. And here's another. A comment on LGF gets to it:

I actually have more problems with it looking soft and passive -- victimization immortalized in stone, as is the case with most of our modern memorials -- than I do with the passing resemblance to the crescent. But it certainly might be worth investigating, though how you'd EVER get someone to admit to the crescent as an influence I have no idea.

He/she is right. Why not something that captures the spirit and inspiration of those who fought back? What has happened to "Let's Roll!?" This goes right up next to the so-called "Freedom Tower" design for the WTC site. We have become a soft, cowering nation. Too many confuse openness and tolerance with passivity and acquiescence.

I don't mean to imply that the designers have placed the crescent in their design as either a slap or as an Islamic reference. But I do think that they probably did not care or think all that much about how the design would be perceived.

The families seem to approve, and the design itself shows merit. But I'm not so sure that this is a good idea. I wonder how people would feel if the memorial was shaped like a cross or a star.

I suppose that in a way the design is perversely appropriate, but then I would suggest a broken crescent to symbolize the philosophy of those who committed the acts of September 11.

Comments

[JJ Miller]

The crescent is not a design by "accident." Someone needs to wake up. DESIGNERS DESIGN WITH INTENTION.. that is what designing is. Hello!? And Archetechs above all professions understand how to put symbolic reference and ideology into what they build, it is at the heart and soul of what they are called to do.

For the designers to say this is for "healing and bonding" they are telling us directly, "We made this design for a reason. We want to be inclusive and understand that the peacefulness of Islam is seen and appreciated." If anyone doesn't understand that, they are nieve.

Now the bigger question, "Is it a bad idea to have a peaceful Islamic crescent as part of the memorial for the Flight 93?" I say, "let's go with it....Just as soon as there is a huge Christian cross erected at the Abu Grae Prison for "healing and bonding" And might as well put another one at the scene of the bloody seiege that captured the two sons of Sadam, and why not a third in the hill country around the spider whole were we got Sadam... or atleast in the town square where his statue was toppled. I like that best. A "healing and bonding" between our peoples, and a giant cross to help those tensions go.

Ludicrous you say? Exactly. And you don't hear any Muslims suggesting it. I wonder why? Lets put a huge granite block with 10 foot high "Let's Roll" hewn into the side... with a wonderfully magnificent American flag flying right behind... God bless those brave men and women.

JJ

[Rich Tatum]

If the crescent is just another geometric shape, why did the Red Cross respond to the offended sensibilities of the Ottoman Empire and use a nice geometric crescent, instead? If it's just another shape, why are more than a dozen predominantly Muslim countries using it as their symbol on their flag?

The way some people apparently think, we might as well have “The Swastika of Hard Times” design or a new Holocaust memorial center. How about “The Rising Sun of Sadness” for a new Pearl Harbor memorial?

Yes, it's just a shape. But it's also a symbol. Any designer who doesn't know the basic history and use of the simplest geometric shapes isn't worth his pay. It's not your job to know the symbolism, it's not my job it's not the job of the victim's families. Appropriate use of symbolism would the job of the designer and artist when commissioned.

Anybody think Japan will be memorializing Hiroshima with a Stars and Stripes design?

This is craziness.

[Vavoom]

All of you act as though Islam brought that plane down. Islamofascism brought down that plane. You are mixing up nationalism with design. A Rising Sun of Sadness or Stars and Stripes are all nationalistic symbols. I think too much is being read into it.

[Martian]

Uhhhh, excuse this American but....
How does this design get picked and come be the final winning design??? This design was just one of over a thousand proposals, and clearly this architect's design does have symbolic overtones [even if only one person in the US sees that!!!!] that cannot be rationally dismissed.
However, let's not blame the architect, RATHER.... BLAME THE IDIOTS [AND POWERS THAT BE] WHO PICKED THIS DESIGN OUT OF A THOUSAND OTHER ONES!!! Coincidence??????? As an American, I am utterly ashamed and we Americans need to make those who picked this design personally accountable.