Korean Twin Towers FAIL? It would definitely appear so, though Dutch architects MVRDV strenuously deny any connection, inspirational or otherwise, with New York City’s lost World Trade Center towers. “The Cloud” is due to rise in Seoul by 2015 – that is, unless a storm of controversy blows the plan away.

Seoul Food for Thought

(image via: DQNplus)

Imagine if you will, an architectural combination of Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 (below) and a pair of towering skyscrapers. The result will likely resemble “The Cloud”, an ambitious high-rise apartment building designed by Dutch architects MVRDV. Current plans predict the post-modern structure will occupy a prime portion of the Yongsan Dreamhub project in Seoul, South Korea, by its 2015 completion date.

(images via: Rezendi and The Blaze)

The Yongsan Dreamhub project is an extension of Seoul’s business district; the master plan is one of 40 projects currently overseen by Studio Libeskind.

(images via: Archivenue and DesignBoom)

How incongruous is it that Daniel Libeskind, chosen to to oversee the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, is also associated with a building design that to many invokes the fiery destruction of the World Trade Center’s twin towers on September 11th, 2001.

Big H with ELL to Pay

(images via: Domus and WN.com)

On the face of it, the H-shaped “The Cloud” displays both practical design considerations and a visible form that places it firmly in the so-called “deconstructionist” aesthetic common to many of Daniel Libeskind’s works. Libeskind, however, has no direct connection to this part of the project as it was subcontracted out to Dutch firm MVRDV.

(images via: Architizer and Archinect)

“The Cloud” is no small undertaking. The 54-floor and 60-floor towers rise to heights of 260 meters (853 ft) and 300 meters (984 ft) respectively, offering 128,000 square meters of living space. Roughly halfway up the towers centered around their 27th floors, a 10-story “cloud” connects the two towers in a similar fashion to the ground-level common plinths found in many multi-building developments.

(images via: Archinect and The Pop-Up City)

By raising the plinth skywards, the formerly occupied ground floor space is freed for other purposes, in this case a landscaped public garden designed by Martha Schwartz. Over 14,357 square meters of amenities are located in the connecting cloud including a wellness center, conference center, fitness studio, pools, restaurants and cafes.

(images via: DQNplus and Occult Propaganda)

The top surface of the tower-connecting cloud is also utilized and features an extensive series of easily accessible public and private outdoor spaces, open-air patios, sun decks, gardens and swimming pools. What could possibly go wrong?

Al Clouda?

(images via: Google+ and 911WhoDidIt)

Call it a mass case of pareidolia (seeing faces and images where none exist) or an unintentionally evocative design, but a furor quickly arose when images of “The Cloud” were first published. Regardless of intent, the resemblance of MVRDV’s design to New York’s twin WTC towers in flame is obvious – no matter that said resemblance appears even closer once one is made aware of it.

(images via: UC21blog and VRForums)

MVRDV (architect Winy Maas, above) was seemingly caught unaware by the disturbingly evocative similarity of “The Cloud” to the 9/11 disaster and have strenuously protested claims their design intentionally imitates the lost Twin Towers in flame. To quote a posting on MVRDV’s facebook page, “A real media storm has started and we receive threatening emails and calls of angry people calling us Al Qaeda lovers or worse. MVRDV regrets deeply any connotations The Cloud project evokes regarding 9/11, it was not our intention.”

(images via: Pop-Up City, ABC News Radio and Inhabitat)

The posting continues, “The Cloud was designed based on parameters such as sunlight, outside spaces, living quality for inhabitants and the city. It is one of many projects in which MVRDV experiments with a raised city level to reinvent the often solitary typology of the skyscraper. It was not our intention to create an image resembling the attacks nor did we see the resemblance during the design process. We sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings we have hurt, the design was not meant to provoke this.”

(image via: Home Theater Forum)

Beyond the above apology, MVRDV is distancing themselves from the ruckus by stating any decisions regarding the implementation of their design are strictly for the client to decide. That being said, Seoul is a long way from Manhattan and those who will live in and around “The Cloud” may not have negative feelings about the building’s appearance. Even so, would you want to live in a building that looks like the scene of a massive terrorist attack – or a 1974 Hollywood disaster movie?

Though there are literally hundreds of monuments to the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, memorial sculptures are much harder to find beyond our shores. These 11 international memorials to 9/11 are, for the most part, smaller in scale and more personal in design, reflecting the subtly different ways 9/11 is interpreted and commemorated by the world at large.

Russia / New Jersey: “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism”

(images via: Russia Blog, Susie’s Big Adventure and Joan Brunner)

Just as the Statue of Liberty has a vital French connection, Russo-Georgian artist Zurab Tsereteli’s “To the Struggle Against World Terrorism” is a gift from “Russian President Vladimir Putin, the people of Russia and the artist” to the people of the United States. The memorial’s central 4-ton, 40-ft long stainless steel teardrop symbolizes, according to Tsereteli, “sadness over grief that will become happiness in the future when terrorism is defeated.”

(image via: Susie’s Big Adventure)

Installed in a new waterfront park in Bayonne, New Jersey, on the 5th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, Tsereteli’s made-in-Russia monument has sparked controversy over its questionable appearance, the integrated images of Presidents Putin and Bush, and uncertainty over exactly how many victims’ names should appear – the monument lists 3,024 names, 45 more than the official count of 2,979.

London, UK: “After 9/11”

(images via: First News and Washington Times)

One of the newest memorials to the September 11 terror attacks was unveiled just 5 days before the event’s 10th anniversary. “After 9/11” is a 28-ft tall conglomeration of three salvaged metal pieces of the Twin Towers. Commissioned by the 9 11 London Project and designed by American artist Miya Ando, the artwork has been temporarily installed in Battersea Park while a permanent home is found to display it.

(image via: Daily Mail UK)

London Mayor Boris Johnson emcee’d the ceremony and injected a little humor by calling for 9/11 conspiracy theories to end. Johnson said he preferred that wacky alternative explanations for the disaster undergo a “controlled demolition”. Nice.

Hangzhou, China: “911 Nirvana Rose”

(images via: Dreamstime, Her Own Terms and 911Memorials)

A mysterious memorial that may or may not exist… and it doesn’t matter if it does or it doesn’t. Professor Hong Wang of the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou had a dream: assemble 30 accomplished Chinese lacquer artists and, over the course of one year, create a simple yet forceful sculpture to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and memorialize its many victims. An echoing silence from the Internet indicates Wang’s dream remained only a concept but WHAT a concept – 220 red & black lacquered trays representing the former Twin Towers, open at their front to accept rose petals placed by visitors.

Puri, India: Sudarshan Pattnaik’s Sand Sculptures

(images via: Washington Post, India Talkies and World Latest News)

Sudarshan Pattnaik’s sublime sand sculptures may be ephemeral in nature but that doesn’t stop his work from being profoundly touching. Being able to create new versions of his 9/11 tribute on an annual basis (weather permitting) doesn’t hurt either.

(image via: LJ World)

Pattnaik’s typical place of business, so to speak, is the golden sand beach at Puri in the Indian state of Orissa. While visually Pattnaik’s sand art may seem somewhat cartoonish, the award-winning artist’s work is taken very seriously in India and serve to educate the public on the universal meaning of 9/11.

Padua, Italy: “Memory and Light”

(images via: Architravel, Voices of September 11th and Padova News)

In 2005 Italy marked the 4th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a glass and steel memorial monument entitled “Memory and Light” (Memoria e Luce), designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. Located in the northern Italian city of Padua, the memorial incorporates a twisted steel beam recovered from the remains of the World Trade Center’s South Tower.

(image via: An American In Padua)

The twisted steel girder featured so prominently in Memoria e Luce still bears its original construction number, though the beam itself has been doubled back upon itself by the tremendous forces unleashed during the South Tower’s catastrophic collapse.

Spain: Moncalvillo Memorial to Edelmiro Abad

(images via: Voices of September 11th)

Of the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001, only one was born in the tiny town of Moncalvillo de la Sierra, Spain. Though Edelmiro Abad‘s hometown was certainly small, the approximately 100 residents of Moncalvillo de la Sierra have very big hearts along with the fervent desire to remember not only one of their own, but the event which led to his losing his life.

(images via: Sierra de la Demanda)

After emigrating to the United States at the age of 7, Abad realized the American Dream by rising to the position of Senior Vice-President of Fiduciary Trust Bank, and he was dutifully at his desk the morning of September 11th, 2001. Abad’s family and the townspeople of Moncalvillo de la Sierra crafted a unique memorial to their favorite son, and by extension the victims of 9/11, which stands today in the Iglesia de San Pedro church’s cemetery. As memorials to 9/11 go, they don’t get any more personal than this.

Ireland: Donadea 9/11 Memorial

(images via: Buzzard525, DZC80 and County Kildare)

New York City’s police and fire departments have traditionally offered employment and opportunity to Irish immigrants, and the ultimate price paid by so many members of these essential services on September 11th continues to resonate in Ireland. Sean Tallon was one of the 343 firemen who died in the course of his duties that day; Tallon’s father was born in Donadea, County Kildare, Ireland.

(image via: Brian Hendricken)

The Donadea 9/11 Memorial located in Donadea Forest Park consists of two scale replicas of the ill-fated Twin Towers carved from locally-sourced granite blocks. The blocks are engraved with the names of those emergency service men and women who died in the line of duty on September 11th, 2001. The memorial is surrounded by a copse of newly planted Oaks that are expected to live for at least 100 years.

France: Caen Memorial for Peace

(images via: Caen Memorial and Sacred Destinations)

The Caen Memorial opened in 1988 and is considered to be the country’s finest World War II museum. Expanded in 2002 to include post-war events, the Caen Memorial bears the distinction of being the first museum outside of the United States to display artifacts from 9/11, including a rescue truck recovered from Ground Zero.

(images via: L’Internaute Magazine and Alex Podbelski)

Though dedicated to showcasing the horrors of war and the reasons wars are fought, the Caen Memorial may seem a trifle emotionless compared to American memorials and monuments to 9/11. The difference reflects the view commonly held outside the United States that the events which sparked the War on Terror were primarily a historical event to be studied at arm’s length.

New Zealand: “Tribute to Firefighters”

(images via: Christchurch Daily Photo, Waymarking and NZPA Images)

Steel girders salvaged from Ground Zero have been distributed to dozens of 9/11 memorials throughout the United States and beyond… in some cases, FAR beyond. You don’t get much farther from new York City than Christchurch, New Zealand, where artist and sculptor used several donated beams to create the Tribute to Firefighters monument in 2002.

(image via: Nan-Anz)

The dedication plaque on the memorial dated October 26th, 2002, reads, “This sculpture was designed by Graham Bennett. The steel, from the New York World Trade Center site, was gifted by the City of New York City to the City of Christchurch to honour all firefighters world wide.”

Canada / North Dakota: “Peace Garden 911 Memorial”

(images via: SJGardiner and Joanne Probyn)

The International Peace Garden was established in 1932 and straddles the US/Canada border just north of north of Dunseith, North Dakota. Among the many monuments and floral displays at the site are a mass of steel girders from the WTC, arranged somewhat haphazardly as if they had fallen naturally.

(image via: Fotothing)

The Peace Garden 911 Memorial, as it is called, is accompanied by a list of 9/11 victims and their country of origin displayed in the Peace Chapel located in the park’s Formal Garden area.

Jerusalem: “9/11 Living Memorial”

(images via: Stand for Israel, Israelity Blog and Daily Forward)

This list of eleven international 9/11 memorials closes with the 9/11 Living Memorial, located in the JNF-KKL Arazim Park. The memorial is situated in a comparatively isolated, mountainous setting just outside Jerusalem that promotes sober thought and introspection.

(image via: Dov Shefi)

The focal point of the memorial is a massive sculpture standing nearly 30 feet tall, consisting of a waving American flag shaped into a memorial flame. The bronze flag rises from a base forged from steel recovered from Ground Zero and the names of all 2,980 victims of the attacks are inscribed on the walls of the courtyard surrounding the sculpture. The 9/11 Living Memorial is the only memorial sculpture outside the United States to include the names of the nearly 3,000 victims of the attacks.

The proliferation of monuments and memorials to the tragic events of September 11th, 2001, ensures the memory of the attacks and those who perished in them will never be forgotten. The existence of these memorials around the world, in formal or informal settings, helps translate the meaning of 9/11 into local cultures today, global culture tomorrow.

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but a Subway sandwich shop made of shipping containers is helping workers at the World Trade Center building site get their noontime grub on more efficiently. The shop will rise along with the building’s construction to its eventual 108-story height, making it easier for construction workers to grab lunch. They don’t have to descend to ground level to grab a bite, so they can spend their 30-minute lunch breaks actually enjoying lunch.

The unique Subway shop is made up of nine shipping containers. The three-story structure – complete with an eating area and a compost unit to recycle waste – is perched on a hydraulic platform in the middle of the building’s frame. Like all other Subways, this one features fresh, baked-on-site bread. It also features a full menu, but will provide workers with some menu items not available at any other Subway: hot dogs, hamburgers and New York pretzels.

The Freedom Tower, more formally known as One World Trade Center, will be the main building at the former World Trade Center site. The building has been under construction since 2006, but only recently did the construction reach a significant height above ground level. In December of 2009, this Subway restaurant was put together to make lunchtime easier for the builders: when the structure is nearly complete, it will take around 45 minutes to get to the bottom from the top. The on-site eatery gives workers tasty, fresh food without having to spend their entire lunch break traveling to and from a restaurant.

Although the high-rise hoagie shop is great advertising for Subway, the restaurant got the contract because they were willing to take on the project at cost. They’re not making a profit on the food, but they are giving workers a welcome break from cold meatloaf sandwiches. And as for the restaurant itself, it’s one of the most creative uses of shipping container architecture we’ve seen yet.