7. The Names Are Not Arranged Alphabetically

What makes the arrangement of the victims’ names on the bronze parapets surrounding the reflecting pools unique is that they are not grouped alphabetically. Instead, the names are organized into three levels of “meaningful adjacencies” that reflect which tower they were in, their affiliations, and their personal relationships. According to Michael Arad, the design concept “allows us to place the names of those who died that day next to each other in a meaningful way, marking the names of family and friends together, as they had lived and died.”

Image via 9/11 Memorial