I usually reject submissions like this one. Crackpot, delusional ideas that might be great in sci-fi novels. Ignoring the lack of reality and the authors taking themselves way too seriously, I gave in and decided to post this one. --U.F.

Anonymous writes "Why was the World Trade Centre at least twice chosen as a target to be attacked? It probably was perceived as a symbol of America's pride, success, arrogance and capitalism and the Towers were by their sheer size and shape easy to hit. It could be a grave mistake to recreate such a challenge by building another high-rise, that would be perceived to symbolise the above all over again.

Instead we could build something which is a living testimonial to what happened and which symbolises the value of internationalism and becomes an icon for a desire to learn from what happened and to prevent a repeat. A beacon of hope for the future.

The CUBE.
Imagine a super giant CUBE, as transparent as possible, with many cubes inside it, which perform/enable different functions 24 hours a day. Each inside cube ought to have a 100% international orientation. There could be cubes dedicated to the visual and performing arts, books, travel, clothing, body culture, health, sex, music, food and drink, furniture & housing, religion & rituals, government systems, law practices, sports, entertainment etc. Perhaps even include a hotel facility from one to three star rating.

Each internal cube should not be a museum but a living, evolving place to get, share and exchange information and where one can buy related goods or services.

Not an EXPO where each country displays its own identity in different themes, but showing instead the amazing diversity we find around the world within any given theme. In fact it could help to preserve useful knowledge and practices that might otherwise be modernised away.

Within the CUBE one can create wide avenues with moving walkways , atriums, trees and fountains, escalators and lifts. Plenty of space to relax, wander, meet and socialise. A challenge to create a wholesome high-tech and low energy consuming environment.

At least one side of the CUBE could be used as a giant video screen. Each panel/square as a pixel on a screen. Showing images or especially made movies visible from quite a distance.

The top of the CUBE could be an enormous terrace to sit, wander, socialise or dance. Yes! Dancing on the roof! Imagine each person equipped with a special set of head phones with 20 channels of different music to choose from. Tune into the music you favour and dance on your own or with others, who are either on the same track or on another. Great fun for the onlookers as well!

The Memorial.
Ground Zero is hallowed ground and can be respected as such. The CUBE can stand on pillars with bridges to enter it. The bridges span the steps surrounding the CUBE from all directions (forming a kind of amphitheatre) leading down to Ground Zero, which could contain almost 3,000 cubes. Each cube representing one of those that died there or died later as a consequence. Each cube to be a memorial to that person with their personal history, pictures, videos, dreams, writings etc. and with a living website dedicated to that person.

If we want to learn and not forget, we ought to consider to also create cubes for those who performed the horrendous act of destroying all these lives. If we do not try to get an understanding for them, their history and their motives, how can we ever expect to prevent more of the same?

Special care should be taken to create a respectful, inviting and comforting environment by a thoughtful design with a playful layout by combining colour and lighting to enhance the proper atmosphere.

Around the CUBE.
Lots of space, a park, flowers and trees, sculptures, ponds and fountains, play grounds, tables to play games, space to exercise, to wander or just to lie or sit around, to picnic, socialise or relax.

More CUBE's.
The CUBE at Ground Zero will be THE CUBE. But it would be even better if it would spawn many CUBE's all over the world with a similar set-up and intention.

Cubing.
The manifestation of the CUBE is internationalism in an intellectual and material sense. It could however go a step further by also facilitating and promoting internationalism as a mental activity in a very direct way. Let us invent Cubing: an activity or mindset to cherish, challenge, explore, research, analyse, confront, embrace, respect and explain all the varieties in human behaviour, beliefs and practices, that we find around the world. Respecting differences however does not mean to agree with them or even to condone them.

So to cube something or a cube session could be an exercise in exploring and understanding through communication, while avoiding competition and value judgement, or at least in trying to postpone judgement. One set of values however would be paramount in the process. Cube discussions or projects should be rated as to whether they promote international, intercultural, interracial, inter-gender and interpersonal exchange and understanding.

To change beliefs and practices is not the primary aim. Cubing in itself however can create changes in the participants by its process and can be a corner stone or building block for a desire for change. Change however is only 100% for the better, if we manage to retain what was good before.

The analogy with Cubism as an art form is intriguing. Especially if you define Cubism as deconstructing the whole into its constituent parts, transforming some or all of them, by trying to reduce them to their essence. Then reassemble the whole in a different and possibly non-conventual way in order to create a new perspective or even a new reality

It would be cool to set up many small cubes in the CUBE, in which people can go to have a cubing session with one or more people, either just to talk about whatever they feel like or organised around themes. Special cubing training sessions could be given and perhaps something like the cubing rules could be posted around. The internet could facilitate such as well, as can video conferencing, so that one can cube from home or from any other place. The technology to do so internationally is there and emerging for a cost price that would have been considered impossible only a few years ago.

The CUBE as a trademark.
The CUBE as a trademark should belong to the world. It was not conceived as a moneymaking enterprise. It requires money however for it to happen and to grow. One way of doing that is to invite people, institutions, companies, governments to buy shares in the CUBE at $1.00 a share. Another idea is for any of the above to donate 1% of their budget or income to the CUBE's and cube projects.

Those who use the CUBE or cubing in advertising, services or on products could pay about 10% of their revenues to the CUBE and its projects.

Whether one donates money to this venture is not the only angle. It is also ones attitude that counts. How much of a cubist do I aspire to be and how much do I accomplish in that respect on a day to day basis, is just as important.

How to keep the process going.
It will be intriguing to see whether any of these ideas will get an audience and whether the focus will be mostly on the CUBE, on the memorial or on cubing or whether something quite different might emerge from throwing this stone in the pond.

At least it might help to stimulate the discussion and focus more on this historic opportunity to show the future where we were at the time. Will it be seen as a lost opportunity or as a visionary gift to the people of New York and to the rest of the world.

This proposal is just one of many possibilities and it will hopefully inspire and energise others to work out other concepts, ideas and designs.

This process should not be conducted primarily by politicians, planners, architects and by those who lost their dear ones. There is no hurry, no previous designed procedure is in place. There is no road map. Even if it took 10 years to come to a conclusion, that would be better than the wrong choice.

Perhaps Jimmy Carter and his organization, being the latest Nobel Peace Prize laureate, might be interested in being instrumental in helping to further the process. This is a mere suggestion, anyone should feel free to stimulate the process in any direction.

The tower of Babel was never finished. The story goes that it was lack of understanding of each others language that stalled the process. Ground Zero now belongs to the world. The whole venture would need a multilingual approach. One of the first steps could be to form a team of translators of native speakers covering all existing languages in the world, who are also fluent in English in both speech and writing in order to have a common ground. Let us start right away. So hereby an invitation to translate this and other contributions and move it around.

Timing can be of the essence. The upcoming festive and reflective season is a good moment to air these thoughts and to explore them in the proper spirit. Look at the most recent proposals for Ground Zero and get involved!

One way of kick starting the process would be for someone to create a multilingual website:
www.GroundZeroNY.org It could become a platform for the discussion, exchanging of thoughts, ideas, criticisms, designs, project proposals, alternatives etc. If there already exists one like that, let us know.

If you want others to read this, spread it around!

For a better world.
It is the only one we have"