| Our Story for World Peace~ |
| It all started one morning in March of 2002; I was waking to my mind flooded with thought and heart full of emotion. I grabbed a pen and began to write a poem about world peace..... "From the rising of the sun to the shooting of the stars".... When I was finished I was humbled in tears. I couldn't remember ever writing anything that caused me to be so overemotional. I felt this was a vision of my calling. At that time President Bush was asking the country to get involved in community service. Even though I am not a Republican, I sensed this was a heart felt and genuine request to do something positive, so I decided to mail this poem out to many newspapers in a hope that it would touch others as it did me. I had no idea where this would lead, but I felt positively about it. As time went on there was little response, but I kept my hopes alive that whatever caused me to feel this passion and joy must be for a reason. In the midst of feeling down, which is a challenger of hope, a continuation of the vision came to me. I suddenly thought what a good idea it would be to build a peace symbol where the Twin Towers used to be. The first idea was to create a structure that went partly in the ground to stabilize it, giving peace to the dead, and the rest above ground to give peace to the living. My friend Tim, helped me to create a black and white computer design and I faxed it to the mayor and governor of New York. My hopes again were building that this idea would be recognized and that this vision of peace would come to light. As the months past with no response, my hopes were again getting down. As life's irony would have it, I opened an article on my computer and saw that there was a competition for a memorial to be placed at ground zero. I knew what I had to do. I had read this in April 2003, I had till the end of May to register and till June 30th the same year to submit. I knew I had my work cut out for me, but a huge surprise would soon come to boost my faith. As I registered and opened the Rules and Guidelines for the competition and began to read, I came across a page titled Letter from Lower Manhattan Development Corporation President (LMDC). I couldn't believe my eyes as I read "Dear Competitors: As you begin to envision your design for a World Trade Center Site memorial, please allow a moment to reflect upon the nature of its location. The World Trade Center Complex was declared upon its completion 30 years ago, "a living symbol of man's dedication to world peace"". From that moment I knew it was a calling and that win or loose I had to do this or I would regret it for the rest of my life. As I began to research about the architect of the Twin Towers, Minoru Yamazaki , I learned of more ironies. Minoru grew up in Seattle and went to the University of Washington, my place of employment. He suffered many adversities from poverty to racism, all which would play a critical role in the development of the diversity of the pieces of peace. Second he was Japanese, a culture that I have been familiar with and studied since I was 14. Third and most amazing of all, that his life’s work of building the New York Twin Towers was all to be dedication for world peace. During the development process, idea after idea about the meaning of the structure and each piece of it began to be revealed. A portion underground gives peace to the perished, and an arc, visible above ground, is for the living. At the bottom is a pond for washing our hands of ignorance, hatred intolerance and prejudice. The center column has rooms for each victim so the families may have a sacred place. The angled beams represent the firemen and police, being the stability of peace. The circle of the symbol shows the unity of those who gave. The symbol radiates unity and peace to inspire and to empower the surrounding financial community, while being a place of tourism to heal not only the heart, but also the financial loss. This peace symbol is 1776' around to match the height of Daniel Libeskind's freedom tower, balancing freedom and peace linearly and circularly to create harmony. Peace fits in New York's skyline giving purpose to liberty (the Statue of Liberty) and Freedom (Freedom Tower), revealing evidence that our democracy is liberty and freedom for the purpose of peace. Peace is colored in blue and green to inspire the world. And ultimately, peace is peace. There are gardens on the grounds with areas for quiet serenity and joyous play to show the aspects of peace being joyous and serene. There is also a stage in the shape of a hand to hold events at, and to show the helping and guiding strength of peace. The presentation that we have named "Uniting Peace" was completed, thanks to the great graphic design of Tim Kapler and the creative cartoon drawings of Chie Otsuka, and turned in to the post office on June 30th 2003, 3 minutes before the dead line...... I wouldn't have any other way! We were instructed to wait till September to find out who the finalists were. After months of waiting and wondering, on November 19th, 8 finalists were chosen. We were not one of them. The final project would be chosen, reflecting absence on January 6th 2004, a design that was welcomed by the LMDC and its 13 member panel jury by saying "In its powerful, yet simple articulation of the footprints of the Twin Towers, "Reflecting Absence" has made the voids left by the destruction the primary symbols of our loss. It is a memorial that expresses both the incalculable loss of life and its consoling renewal, a place where all of us come together to remember from generation to generation." Although I strongly disagree with this idea and feel that peace is a much better healer and reminder than a void as a national monument, In an effort to find out what others thought, I decided to start a logo and create a newsletter called P.I.M.P. meaning (Peace is my purpose) A more modern way to describe my feeling of keeping global hatemongering at a minimal. Anyway, I went to a local casino with a friend one night, and decided to take a non scientific opinion poll of the idea. The response went well. A month later we decided to have the idea checked by a structural engineering firm, we chose AHBL of Tacoma to verify if our structure could stand. During the meeting with Andrew D. McEachern of AHBL, he said an arch is quite stable by itself, referring to the one in St. Louis, not to mention that there are other stabilizers including the middle and angle beams which add to the support. He discussed different types of simple truss systems that they could use, and gave the structure approval, leaving his card with me for anyone interested to call. The project has only developed slightly since then, but one addition came at the recommendation of a homeless man, Nathanial. I came out of Safeway after shopping one night and there was a homeless man begging me to buy him a beer. His wife had kicked him out, she had problems with drugs, but he was too in love with her to let go. As sad as this is, there is still something to be said about love. Well I bought him some beer, and we actually hung out for about 5 hours talking about life and of course the peace idea was discussed. He was very excited about it, and recommended changing the pond to a heart shape. He was a Vietnam vet who was definitely a soldier, and if he recommends love after all he has been through, I was no one to argue. We have not yet fully developed the idea, but you will notice some slides contain ponds that are shaped as a heart. This was in preparation for our trip to New York where we visited ground zero, handing out nearly 500 flyers . The response of firemen and police was especially good. So good that I went to hand a flyer to an officer on the street who had actually seen it from another officer. I was happy to hear that they took to it well, especially since part of it is dedicated to them. I want to end this segment of the story by saying that I believe that all great ideals are best symbolized with a monument. It is why we treasure the Statue of Liberty. Even though the truth of liberty is self evident, the monumental symbol brings it to life, and there is a great emotion behind it. For this reason, I feel it is crucial for the world to know that the heart of our democracy is liberty and freedom in hope for peace, and we should always keep that ideal alive. Please donate to worldpeacemonument.com that we may one day build this monument. We appreciate your support, may God bless you, and the whole world. Justen VanGrinsven P.S. for more information with videos and pictures, please enter the site by clicking on links above. |
