Michael Arad is an architect who moved to New York City from Israel in 1999. At 34, Arad was selected from 5,201 competitors as the winning designer of the World Trade Center Memorial. After a behind-the-scenes war of wills, we now celebrate his vision with a with "Reflecting Absence", a pair of pools set 30 feet deep in the footprints of the downed towers, with cascading waterfalls surrounded by the names of the dead and a "living park" at ground level meant to symbolize life and rebirth.

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Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Michael Arad

Design Matters by Debbie Millman features interviews with designers, artists and cultural leaders, including Lawrence Weiner, Barbara Kruger, Malcolm Gladwell, Eric Kandel, Stefan Sagmeister, John Maeda, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, Michael Arad, Milton Glaser, Massimo Vignelli, Paula Scher, Steven Heller, Jonah Lehrer, among others.

In 2011, Design Matters received the People’s Design Award from the prestigious Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards.

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