Michael Arad

I believe that people are fundamentally are decent. And, yes, you will have people that sometimes will misbehave.

I really appreciate artists of the 20th century, and I can see a lot of their influence on my work, but to suggest that my design only fits within an 'ism' kind of bothers me.

There are bound to be differences in any artistic collaboration with landscape elements, or theater, of lighting elements.

If I wasn't going to live in Israel, I had to live in New York.

You have to always push back, whatever the pressures put on you.

How do you design it so that people can form a space of their own, and feel quiet and contemplative?

For two years nobody talked about anything other than the name arrangement. There was no fund-raising and no progress being made on construction and design.

I'm a little more measured. That sense of urgency I thought accompanied things - it can take a little longer. You have to take the long view.

I had a dual role: designer and advocate.

It was really a magical moment, to see this idea that's in your head.

New York was a place I wanted to live and work all along. If I wasn't going to live in Israel, I had to live in New York.

I have no choice but to fight them every step of the way. I can't tell you how many other stupid ideas have been proposed over the last two years.

No rendering can really simulate the way the light bounces off the bronze panel. From some angles, it's almost a mirror, and from others it's a matte surface.

I built a series of supporters that had my back. I never abused that trust. You can't cry wolf. You have to solve most problems yourself.

When I was in the Army, the unit I served in, you could never stop. It was a volunteer unit, and there was a fairly high rate of attrition. The people who stayed through are the people who were either great at it or the people who just didn't know how to stop. And I fell into that second category.

I hope for the experience of people standing together, turning their backs to the city and facing this, and hearing the leaves rustle. Well, maybe it won't be as bucolic as at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, but I know you will feel removed from the city.

I think my desire to imagine a future for this site came out of trying to come to terms with the emotions that day aroused.

I love New York, but I'd felt like an outsider here.

You can just never desist. You have to always push back, whatever the pressures put on you.

It sounds really over the top to say you're responsible for the city of New York, but I do feel responsibility to the city of New York, to this country, to people everywhere. So many people were affected by the events of September 11, and I feel this is one of the ways that that event will be understood and defined.