Art, Modernity, and The City Discuss Michael Sorkin's claim that the'theme' of the new World TradeCenter development is 'the melding of memory and profit'. (M. Sorkin, 'Smoke and Mirrors', Architectural Record, Vol. 199, No. 9, September 2011, p. 80) When it comes to tragedies, especially the ones that all of a sudden hit a significant number of people, not only a nation, but the entire world, very often it may seem too difficult to live the future and to move on. The terrorist attacks aimed at United States of America on the 11th of September 2001, became such an important moment in modern world history, it became almost impossible not to hear it being mentioned by media on a daily basis. The aftermath of the 9/11 events was strengthening the anti-terrorism legislation by USA and many other countries, and launching The War on Terror. It is important to realise that America's national identity was challenged as the country was overwhelmed by the feeling of anxiety and urgency. In a moment the country quite quickly filled up with significant amounts of temporary handmade memorials [footnoteRef:1]. Moreover, the idea of creating a permanent memorial appeared the same month as the tragedy happened. New York Times was the first newspaper to published few proposals of what could be built on the Ground Zero. While focusing on the 9/11 memorial, the purpose of the buildings surrounding it and its representation in the media, a difficult question arises whether the actual memorial is functioning as a didactical and cathartic symbol or just a simple commodity. In this essay I will discuss Michael Sorkin's claim that the 'theme' of the new World Trade Centre development is 'the melding of memory and profit'. [1: Erika Doss, Memorial Mania, 1st edn. (University of Chicago Press, 2012), p. 2. ] Firstly, I would like to focus on the developments built on the premises previously occupied by the destroyed towers and their representation. Many remarked that all of New York City was turned into an instant memorial after the tragedy. The public space was quickly reorganized in the way to be able to meet the expectations and needs of mourning public. For these reasons, the ground zero on the tenth anniversary became a place for the permanent memorial Reflecting Absence by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum (NS11MM)[footnoteRef:2], opened in May 21 2014. One of the other buildings, which was an element of Daniel Libeskind's master plan from reconstructing the sites was the 'Freedom Tower'. It stands just over the memorial place and acts almost as a guard for the plaza[footnoteRef:3]. Harriet F. Senie claims that the purpose of memorials, in general, is to enable people to remember those who died, what led to their deaths, as well as defining the present to the future[footnoteRef:4]. Does the 9/11 memorial succeed in doing that? Adam Gopnik in his article reflect on his visit to the memorial park by saying that "It ...
