Design For Monuments that Inspire – 9/11 Pentagon Memorial

Photo by Laura Novak

To say Beckman and Kaseman’s concept came from the heart is an understatement. It also came from the gut and their shared personal desire to create a space of positivity during an uncertain time in American history…especially as they lived in New York City and witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center firsthand and literally from the ground up. The couple, who lived on the Upper West Side and were working at different architecture firms, were front and center to experience the unthinkable. They watched the start of the workday go up in a billowing cloud of smoke and soot and saw the ensuing confusion on the streets. Their proximity to the attacks (especially Beckman, who went downtown to meet up with her boss) made the local, national and international coverage all the more heartbreaking.

Like many New Yorkers, Beckman and Kaseman needed a way to cope with the events of 9/11. Although they initially threw themselves into work at their respective jobs, the announcement of the Pentagon Memorial Design Contest less than a year later provided them a personal creative outlet to express what they would do if they could create a memorial that underscored the events of the brutal day but do it in the most comforting way possible. Each created his or her own sketches of the physical monument as well as brainstormed lists of words and ideas a successful execution of the monument would stir up in visitors.

Photo by Jacob Novak

In interviews with the The Washington Post, the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s newsletter (the couple ultimately moved their firm, Kaseman Beckman Advanced Strategies, or KBAS, there to assume university faculty positions) and other publications, the couple affirmed they entered the competition not to win, but to heal their personal wounds, spark productive conversation about 9/11’s impact, design something as a team that had great personal meaning, and pay their respects to those whose family members and friends perished at the Pentagon.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: TOWER OF VOICES 9/11 MEMORIAL DESIGN

Even with top architecture firms and designers competing in the international competition, the experience brought the couple closer in their efforts to put together the best entry possible. They would brainstorm after their work hours in local restaurants and their small Manhattan loft over the course of two months. What they ultimately rendered as a 9/11 Pentagon memorial design would successfully balance loss and life affirmation, as well as have communal accessibility rather than a large, imposing presence.

The concept for the memorial and memorial plaza came together as a place outside the rebuilt Pentagon that froze the moment (9:37 am) in time by integrating elements from the original building’s wreckage and striking steel markers indicating the ages of the victims (3 to 71) at the time of the attack. However, the impact would be offset through the presence of 85 Crape Myrtle trees, water-reflecting pools, and sunlight pouring in and out of the park-like setting. Personal cantilevered benches made of anodized aluminum and polished granite commemorating each victim would rise out of the 184 pools giving visitors a place to sit, gather, and remember lost friends and family members. Those benches would be oriented to distinguish who was on Flight 77 and who was an employee inside the Pentagon. The point of impact would be best viewed, in a subtle manner, between two age lines (1959 and 1961).

“For me, one of the first things I was thinking was that it should be a place where, say, a mom and her kids could go on a Sunday afternoon to be near the husband and the father and how we could make it a very welcoming and inviting place,” Beckman told the The Washington Post in May 2003. “(where) they could go for five minutes or a couple of hours and sit and read a book… So, the idea of someplace to sit was there from the get-go.”

“I was at my job when I got the call,” Beckman said in a UTK newsletter article published on September 11, 2015. “I remember it being my one and only out-of-body experience. I then had the pleasure of calling Keith and telling him the good news. Three days later, we had to be at a press conference at the Pentagon. We were thrust into the national limelight. The announcement was the first positive piece of news related to September 11 in a long time.”

Beckman also recalled that there wasn’t a spirit of competition among the six finalists, either, and all of the designs were beautiful. The couple was the last to make their presentation to the competition’s jury and got the opportunity to answer the families’ questions and receive feedback about their design from them. In late February 2003, they learned their design was selected by the competition jury. When people would ask who designed the Pentagon 9/11 memorial, the answer would be them. This prompting them to quit their New York jobs, move to Alexandria, VA to keep an eye on the project, and form their eponymous company.

Photo by Laura Novak

During the six years between groundbreaking and completion, the young architects under the KBAS umbrella worked closely with a variety of organizations and agencies to see their vision come to fruition. The Pentagon Renovation & Construction Program Office (PENREN) served as the construction agent and provided project management support. The Pentagon awarded Centex-Lee, LLC a contract in August of 2003 to complete all design and construction activities. During the contract, Centex-Lee was acquired by Balfour Beatty, PLC (later Balfour Beatty / Lee + Papa and Associates).

Even with some road bumps in the construction process, Beckman had high praise for the entire design-build team, whose efforts were bolstered by, “hundreds of people and dozens of companies from around the U.S., including academic and industry advisors, material scientists, fabrication specialists, testing facilities, construction experts and design professionals” to ensure every important detail of the construction to honor the fallen in a lasting way.

Like many other designs for monuments, the way the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Design resonated with not only the families of the victims, but survivors and the general public, earned it a National Medal of Service from the American Institute of Architects. They received the award at the 2012 Architects of Healing ceremony, which honored architects involved in 9/11 memorials and rebuilding efforts. “Words will never describe how honored we feel to have played such a significant role in the Pentagon Memorial,” assessed Beckman in 2015 after the monument had been open for seven years. “It has been such a privilege to be a part of something like this and to have worked so closely with so many people who poured their heart and soul into the project.”