Remembering 9/11: Moment of Silence

Those working on the project came up with the concept in the week following the attack. Architects John Bennett and Gustavo Bonevardi of PROUN Space Studio distributed their "Project for the Immediate Reconstruction of Manhattan's Skyline". Artists Julian LaVerdiere and Paul Myoda, who before September 11 were working on the 91st floor of the World Trade Center north tower on a proposed light sculpture on the giant radio antenna with Creative Time, conceived of a project called "Phantom Towers". They were commissioned by The New York Times Magazine to create an image of the project for its September 23 cover.

Richard Nash Gould, a New York architect, went to the Municipal Art Society with the concept. Gould was part of a firm whose SoHo office looked on the World Trade Center. Other projects by Gould include Howard, Darby & Levin in New York City and Polo Sport, Ralph Lauren in New York City.

On September 19, chairman Philip K. Howard wrote to Mayor Rudy Giuliani, asking him "to consider placing two large searchlights near the disaster site, projecting their light straight up into the sky."