September 11 Disaster Coverage | |||||||||||
Architects from Around the World Send Condolences | |||||||||||
International
Union of Architects: Following the recent events in the United States, a number of participants have renounced their attendance at the meeting of our Working Group planned for September 28th. To ensure the success of this Working Group we have preferred to postpone it until the end of January 2002 and will make a new announcement as soon as a new date is fixed. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the postponing of this meeting. We would like to express our deepest sympathy to our colleagues of the United States facing the present tragedy. Jean-Marie Charpentier Yerevan: We are convinced that the majestic skyline of New York, the crown of which was the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, will be restored to demonstrate the indomitable spirit of the American People and to manifest the greatest respect for its architecture. With expressions of sincere sympathy, The Board of the Union of Armenian Architects Vienna: Please receive the warmest feelings from the architects of Europe. Utz Purr, Hon. AIA Tbilisi: Prof. Vakhtang Davitaia, Hon. FAIA Helsinki: September 11, 2001, will change history forever. We hope that civilized people around the world can have compassion for all those suffering on that day, especially in New York; Washington, D.C.; and Pittsburgh. Matti Rautiola Moscow: We are deeply shaken by the heavy tidings of the enormous act of terrorism in America. Architects, as the profession of creators, feel strongly against any form of terrorism. On behalf of my colleaguesthe architects of Russiaand myself, I express to you and to all American architects our genuine condolences. Yury P. Gnedovskiy, Hon. FAIA Sofia: Now, we bow our heads in honor of the innocent victims, express sympathy for their relatives, and call on the parliaments and governments all over the world for severe action to stop the terrorism. Acts of violence became an everyday situation for the Bulgarian people in their homeland. Urgent and severe reaction from the Bulgarian legislative and government authorities is necessary. Bulgarian architects have been united in their professional organization since 1893. As creators of the environment, they are initiators of mutual cooperation and understanding of people all over the world, in the name of its prosperity. Architect Tanko Serafimov Paris: Our hearts go out to your compatriots in these hard days, and all our thoughts and prayers are for those who have perished or who are suffering, including their families. You have not forgotten Lafayette, and you have shown it twice by coming to fight for freedom at our sides. We have not forgotten the American wooden crosses that stand along the coast and in the fields of France, nor will we ever forget them. In the name of the past and our shared democratic values, rest assured of our full professional solidarity and our even closer than ever friendship. We are, of course, at your entire disposal for any help you may feel to be necessary. There are unfortunately certain terrible signs that cannot be wrongly interpreted, and I am now convinced that we must invent the world of tomorrow around shared humanist identities that are able to go beyond mere economic exchanges that create such glaring disparities. Please accept my warmest fraternal feelings and our kindest thoughts. Yours sincerely, Tel
Aviv: All of us at the Israel Association of Consulting Engineers and Architects wish to express to you, our colleagues, our deepest condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones, and to the entire American nation. We stand as one with you in this terrible time. Respectfully, Amsterdam: In this message, we would like to express our sincere sympathy for the American Institute of Architects, and especially those architects and people connected to the Twin Towers. In these last two days, it has become clear that architecture is not only the expression of society, but also a symbol that can be, and which has been attacked. The terrorists responsible for these dreadful events understood the power and symbolism of architecture and tried in vain to destroy its message. We can merely express our hope and confidence that, in the end, the people of the world will understand what [Russian sculptor Ossip] Zadkine expressed a long time ago, namely that architecture is "the messenger." From now on, your Institute and ours must try to clarify this in our work. All architects need to be prepared to truly face the needs of society. BNA, the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects, offers all of our help to you and your country in this time of tragedy. We sincerely hope that our free world and society will overcome the unseen powers of terrorism. Yours sincerely, Ankara: Please accept the heartfelt condolences of your fellow architects in Turkey. Hoping for a better future when peace and sanity prevail over lunacy, With our best regards, Mexico
City: Those who believe in justice and democracy, as we do, must be certain to act with intelligence and serenity to ascertain that the rights of the world's people are not violated. Yours truly, Ottawa: Although it will take months, perhaps years, to erase the physical scars, it was welcome news that many architectural firms and their employees who lived and worked near the Trade Center were spared injury. Speaking for the RAIC Board of Directors, I would like to offer any assistance that we may give you or your members who may have been directly affected. Please do not hesitate to call me personally at any time. Yours truly, Sydney: Ilike many others in Australia (and New Zealand)am devastated, sorry, and also angry that such evil could be directed against the United States and its citizens. Our thoughts and prayers are with all Americans and in particular with our friends at the AIA and all its members who are suffering at this time. Please be assured that we stand with you, ready to help at all times. My deepest sympathies to all, London: We share your shock and grieve with you for those lives lost. Our prayers are for your leaders who will guide your nation, with the world, through and beyond this horrific act. We also pray for the fortitude and safety for those now working to clear and stabilize Manhattan, especially any of your members and their colleagues in the construction industry. Executive Director Tony Godwin, Commonwealth Association of Architects Prague: Sincerely, Madrid: Best regards, Bilbao: In Basque country, we have been forced by long-term lasting terrorist activities to decide to hold together as a democratic and open-minded community. I am convinced that your country will manage to cope with the situation in a satisfactory and future-looking way. Please be assured of our continued collaboration, both personally and professionally. Kind regards and all the best. Bangladesh: The Twin Towers were considered one of the finest office towers in the world and part of a glorious Modern architecture heritage. This heinous atrocity is nothing but a shameful and hatred act against world civilization, peace, and tranquility. We have no language to express our condolences to you for the loss of innumerable human lives and valuable properties. Please accept our profound sympathy, even though we know no words can match the loss generated by this barbarous act. We pray for the eternal peace of all departed souls. May God the Almighty rest them in heaven. With best regards, Tokyo: I can find no words to properly express the sorrow and sympathy that I feel for the victims of these tragedies, as well as the anger I feel toward the terrorists. I sincerely hope that the entire staff and members of the AIA are safe. If there is some way in which the JIA can help during this time of crisis, please do not hesitate to call on us. Sincerely yours, President Narifumi Murao Washington, D.C.September 13: The AIA, responds: To All at the UIA General Secretariat: All of us at the AIA are deeply moved and grateful for your messages of support and compassion following Tuesday's terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. It is a great comfort to us to see such a universal outpouring of concern from our colleagues around this ever-smaller planet. As architects, whose mission is to create and build, it is telling to us that in these outrageous acts terrorists have chosen to strike out at two of our nation's most recognizable architectural icons. The destruction of human life and national confidence were the obvious goals, but the vehicles to those ends are our work and our responsibility. We who build for the comfort, safety, and delight of humanity are deeply saddened by this tragic perversion of the architect's most basic strengths: the capacity to make real what the human mind can imagine. September 11, 2001, was indeed, a day of tragedy, pain, and outrage, and those feelings will continue for a lifetime. But already today we sense other feelings coming to the fore, feelings of unity and resolve to bring those responsible for such cowardly acts to swift justice. It is further heartening to hear our national leaders and othersjust 48 hours after these terrible eventstalking of rebuilding. Such remarks are a reminder that civilized societies often express their optimism in the face of crisis through an act of creation, choosing to focus on what will be, not what was. We will rebuild. John D. Anderson, FAIA, President Copyright 2001 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved. |
|
||||||||||