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.

I had a dual role: designer and advocate.

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 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.

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.

I pushed the process forward by saying, 'We should do this, this, and this right now. Please find the budget for me to find a structural engineer, a mechanical engineer, a civil engineer, so we can do the preliminary work.

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.