Phoenix Rising

The "Sphere for Plaza Fountain" sculpture by Fritz Koenig originally stood in a fountain in the World Trade Center Plaza (also known as the Austin J. Tobin Plaza). Koenig designed the sphere to symbolize world peace through world trade, the theme of the World Trade Center. The sphere stood 25 feet high. It was made of bronze and attached to a black granite base out of which flowed sheets of water.

Me at the World Trade Center Plaza, May 2001

On 9/11 (just 6 months after the photo above was taken), the sphere was damaged in the World Trade Center bombings. It had been dented, ripped open and filled with fallen debris, but not destroyed.

Out of the rubble, the surviving "Sphere" became an icon of the indestructible spirit of American citizens. On March 11, 2002, it was placed in Battery Park, just a few blocks south of Ground Zero, as a memorial to those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks.

Photo copyright Harvey Silikovitz