The competition to design a memorial to the victims of both the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks at the site of the former World Trade Center has already been dubbed the largest of its kind. But the agency in charge of developing the memorial Friday launched an aggressive outreach campaign aimed at attracting even more competitors, particularly from outside the United States.
Since its kick-off on April 28, the design competition has received nearly 5,000 submissions from over 70 nations.
But Kevin Rampe of the Lower Manhattan Development Committee said the competition still needs more input.
"We have no magic number," he said. "Even at 5,000, we're the largest design competition that's ever been done for a memorial, but we feel that this is an event of such international significance, and such historical significance, that we want to make sure that we have gone out to the broadest possible audience."
Registrants come from every continent on earth except Antarctica. But of the 4,951 submissions collected so far, the vast majority, 4,154 have come from the United States.
Mr. Rampe said this competition in particular must have stronger international representation.
"People from 91 countries were lost on [September 11], so it wasn't just an American event, it was an international event, and the memorial needs to reflect that," he said.
Anyone 18 or older has until May 29 to register, by fax 1-800-718-2003 or via the Internet, at www.wtcsitememorial.org, and can submit designs between June 9 and June 30. A 13-member jury, which includes Vietnam War Memorial designer Maya Lin and the widow of a trade center victim, is expected to select a winner in October.
The memorial will be the centerpiece of the redeveloped World Trade Center site.
