The Sphere
Encyclopedia
The Sphere is a large metal
lic sculpture
by German sculptor Fritz Koenig
, currently displayed in Battery Park, New York City
, that once stood in the middle of Austin J. Tobin
Plaza, the area between the World Trade Center
towers in Manhattan
. After being recovered from the rubble of the Twin Towers after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the artwork faced an uncertain fate, and it was dismantled into its components. Although it remained structurally intact, it had been visibly damaged by debris from the airliner
s that were crashed into the buildings and from the collapsing skyscraper
s themselves.
Six months after the attacks, following a documentary film
about the sculpture, it was relocated to Battery Park on a temporary basis—without any repairs—and formally rededicated with an eternal flame
as a memorial
to the victims of 9/11. It has become a major tourist attraction
, due partly to the fact that it survived the attacks with only dents and holes.
to mimic the Grand Mosque of Mecca, Masjid al-Haram
, in which The Sphere stood at the place of the Kaaba
. It was set to rotate once every 24 hours, and its base became a popular lunch spot for workers in the trade center on days with good weather.
At its current location in Battery Park, a plaque alongside The Sphere reads as follows:
(PANYNJ), in 1966. The Authority's original choice had been Henry Moore
, but Koenig was chosen after architect
Minoru Yamasaki
saw some of Koenig's work at the Staempfli Gallery in Manhattan. Koenig started work in 1967 in his barn in Bavaria
, while the WTC was in the planning stages, and finished it four years later in time for the opening of the towers. Officially titled
Große Kugelkaryatide (Great Spherical Caryatid
) by the artist, New Yorkers soon nicknamed it The Sphere.
. Its extraction had been widely covered in local news media in the New York metropolitan area
. As it was a memorable feature of the Twin Towers site, there was much discussion about using it in a memorial, especially since it seemed to have come through the attacks relatively unscathed.
German film director
Percy Adlon
, who had twice previously devoted films to Koenig, made Koenigs Kugel (Koenig's Sphere) at a time when the sculpture's fate was still uncertain. In the film, the artist and the director visit Ground Zero
five weeks after the attacks as the former retells the story of its creation. At first, Koenig opposed reinstalling The Sphere, considering it "a beautiful corpse."
The sculpture was eventually returned to Manhattan, and on March 11, 2002, six months to the day after the attacks, it was re-erected in Battery Park, near the Hope Garden
, several blocks away from where it once stood. Koenig himself supervised the work; it took four engineer
s and 15 ironworker
s to create a new base. Mayor
Michael Bloomberg
, his predecessor Rudolph Giuliani and other local officials spoke at a ceremony
rededicating it as a memorial to the victims.
"It was a sculpture, now it's a monument," Koenig said, noting how the relatively fragile metal globe had mostly survived the cataclysm. "It now has a different beauty, one I could never imagine. It has its own life — different from the one I gave to it."
According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Vickie Karp, the city is looking to relocate The Sphere by summer 2011 when construction will begin to restore the park’s lawn, requiring the sculpture to be moved. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which owns The Sphere, is considering placing the sculpture in Liberty Park, which will be located between the 90 West Street building and the World Trade Center Memorial
site. Liberty Park won’t be constructed until at least 2013, so a location is needed to place The Sphere until Liberty Park is completed. As of February 2011, PANYNJ had not made an official final decision on where to place the sculpture once Battery Park construction commences, forcing the sculpture to move. Until Liberty Park opens, the Sphere may have to go into storage.
An online petition created by 9/11 families demanding the return of The Sphere to the 9/11 Memorial has gained more than 7,123 signatures as of July 23, 2011.
Officials from the 9/11 Memorial have stated that they do not want any 9/11 artifacts cluttering the 8-acre memorial plaza. There are no plans to place The Sphere on the 9/11 Memorial site. Liberty Park, which is south of the 9/11 Memorial, is not part of or on the site of the 9/11 Memorial.
Metal
A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...
lic sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
by German sculptor Fritz Koenig
Fritz Koenig
Fritz Koenig, born June 20, 1924, in Würzburg, Germany, is a sculptor best known outside his native country for "The Sphere," which once stood in the plaza between the two World Trade Center towers in Lower Manhattan but which now stands, its damage deliberately left unrepaired, in Battery Park as...
, currently displayed in Battery Park, New York City
Battery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
, that once stood in the middle of Austin J. Tobin
Austin J. Tobin
Austin Joseph Tobin served as the executive director of the Port of New York Authority, the precursor to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, from 1942 until 1972...
Plaza, the area between the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
towers in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. After being recovered from the rubble of the Twin Towers after the September 11, 2001, attacks, the artwork faced an uncertain fate, and it was dismantled into its components. Although it remained structurally intact, it had been visibly damaged by debris from the airliner
Airliner
An airliner is a large fixed-wing aircraft for transporting passengers and cargo. Such aircraft are operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an aircraft intended for carrying multiple passengers in commercial...
s that were crashed into the buildings and from the collapsing skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
s themselves.
Six months after the attacks, following a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the sculpture, it was relocated to Battery Park on a temporary basis—without any repairs—and formally rededicated with an eternal flame
Eternal flame
An eternal flame is a flame or torch that burns day and night for an indefinite period. The flame that burned constantly at Delphi was an archaic feature, "alien to the ordinary Greek temple"....
as a memorial
Memorial
A memorial is an object which serves as a focus for memory of something, usually a person or an event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or art objects such as sculptures, statues or fountains, and even entire parks....
to the victims of 9/11. It has become a major tourist attraction
Tourist attraction
A tourist attraction is a place of interest where tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, or amusement opportunities....
, due partly to the fact that it survived the attacks with only dents and holes.
Description
The Sphere is 25 feet high and cast in 52 bronze segments. Koenig considered it his "biggest child". It was put together in Bremen, Germany and shipped as a whole to Lower Manhattan. The artwork was meant to symbolize world peace through world trade, and was placed at the center of a ring of fountains and other decorative touches designed by trade center architect Minoru YamasakiMinoru Yamasaki
was a Japanese-American architect, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century...
to mimic the Grand Mosque of Mecca, Masjid al-Haram
Masjid al-Haram
Al-Masjid al-Ḥarām is the largest mosque in the world. Located in the city of Mecca, it surrounds the Kaaba, the place which Muslims worldwide turn towards while performing daily prayers and is Islam's holiest place...
, in which The Sphere stood at the place of the Kaaba
Kaaba
The Kaaba is a cuboid-shaped building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, and is the most sacred site in Islam. The Qur'an states that the Kaaba was constructed by Abraham, or Ibraheem, in Arabic, and his son Ishmael, or Ismaeel, as said in Arabic, after he had settled in Arabia. The building has a mosque...
. It was set to rotate once every 24 hours, and its base became a popular lunch spot for workers in the trade center on days with good weather.
At its current location in Battery Park, a plaque alongside The Sphere reads as follows:
For three decades, this sculpture stood in the plaza of the World Trade Center. Entitled "The Sphere", it was conceived by artist Fritz KoenigFritz KoenigFritz Koenig, born June 20, 1924, in Würzburg, Germany, is a sculptor best known outside his native country for "The Sphere," which once stood in the plaza between the two World Trade Center towers in Lower Manhattan but which now stands, its damage deliberately left unrepaired, in Battery Park as...
as a symbol of world peace. It was damaged during the tragic events of September 11, 2001, but endures as an icon of hope and the indestructible spirit of this country. The Sphere was placed here on March 11, 2002 as a temporary memorial to all who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks at the World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
.
This eternal flameEternal flameAn eternal flame is a flame or torch that burns day and night for an indefinite period. The flame that burned constantly at Delphi was an archaic feature, "alien to the ordinary Greek temple"....
was ignited on September 11, 2002 in honor of all those that were lost. Their spirit and sacrifice will never be forgotten.
Acquisition
The piece was commissioned by the owner of the World Trade Center, the Port Authority of New York and New JerseyPort Authority of New York and New Jersey
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the Port of New York and New Jersey...
(PANYNJ), in 1966. The Authority's original choice had been Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
, but Koenig was chosen after architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Minoru Yamasaki
Minoru Yamasaki
was a Japanese-American architect, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century...
saw some of Koenig's work at the Staempfli Gallery in Manhattan. Koenig started work in 1967 in his barn in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, while the WTC was in the planning stages, and finished it four years later in time for the opening of the towers. Officially titled
Große Kugelkaryatide (Great Spherical Caryatid
Caryatid
A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
) by the artist, New Yorkers soon nicknamed it The Sphere.
Location history
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, upon recovery from the rubble pile the sculpture was dismantled and sent to storage near John F. Kennedy International AirportJohn F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport is an international airport located in the borough of Queens in New York City, about southeast of Lower Manhattan. It is the busiest international air passenger gateway to the United States, handling more international traffic than any other airport in North...
. Its extraction had been widely covered in local news media in the New York metropolitan area
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also known as Greater New York, or the Tri-State area, is the region that composes of New York City and the surrounding region...
. As it was a memorable feature of the Twin Towers site, there was much discussion about using it in a memorial, especially since it seemed to have come through the attacks relatively unscathed.
German film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Percy Adlon
Percy Adlon
Percy Adlon is a German film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. He is best known for his film Bagdad Café aka Out of Rosenheim.-Biography:...
, who had twice previously devoted films to Koenig, made Koenigs Kugel (Koenig's Sphere) at a time when the sculpture's fate was still uncertain. In the film, the artist and the director visit Ground Zero
Ground zero
The term ground zero describes the point on the Earth's surface closest to a detonation...
five weeks after the attacks as the former retells the story of its creation. At first, Koenig opposed reinstalling The Sphere, considering it "a beautiful corpse."
The sculpture was eventually returned to Manhattan, and on March 11, 2002, six months to the day after the attacks, it was re-erected in Battery Park, near the Hope Garden
Hope Garden
Hope Garden in New York City's Battery Park is a memorial dedicated to AIDS victims. The garden has also served as a temporary September 11 memorial, housing The Sphere, which was damaged in the attacks. The garden has also been used as a site for environmental demonstrations due to its fragility...
, several blocks away from where it once stood. Koenig himself supervised the work; it took four engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
s and 15 ironworker
Ironworker
Ironworker is a class of machines that can shear, notch, and punch holes in steel plate. Ironworkers generate force using mechanical advantage or hydraulic systems. Modern systems use hydraulic rams powered by a heavy alternating current electric motor. High strength carbon steel blades and dies...
s to create a new base. Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
, his predecessor Rudolph Giuliani and other local officials spoke at a ceremony
Ceremony
A ceremony is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin.-Ceremonial occasions:A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human life, marking the significance of, for example:* birth...
rededicating it as a memorial to the victims.
"It was a sculpture, now it's a monument," Koenig said, noting how the relatively fragile metal globe had mostly survived the cataclysm. "It now has a different beauty, one I could never imagine. It has its own life — different from the one I gave to it."
According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Vickie Karp, the city is looking to relocate The Sphere by summer 2011 when construction will begin to restore the park’s lawn, requiring the sculpture to be moved. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ), which owns The Sphere, is considering placing the sculpture in Liberty Park, which will be located between the 90 West Street building and the World Trade Center Memorial
World Trade Center Memorial
- Fundraising :The Foundation has fundraising responsibilities because of the tasks assigned to it by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation...
site. Liberty Park won’t be constructed until at least 2013, so a location is needed to place The Sphere until Liberty Park is completed. As of February 2011, PANYNJ had not made an official final decision on where to place the sculpture once Battery Park construction commences, forcing the sculpture to move. Until Liberty Park opens, the Sphere may have to go into storage.
An online petition created by 9/11 families demanding the return of The Sphere to the 9/11 Memorial has gained more than 7,123 signatures as of July 23, 2011.
Officials from the 9/11 Memorial have stated that they do not want any 9/11 artifacts cluttering the 8-acre memorial plaza. There are no plans to place The Sphere on the 9/11 Memorial site. Liberty Park, which is south of the 9/11 Memorial, is not part of or on the site of the 9/11 Memorial.
External links
- Koenig's Sphere on the IMDb