Talk:The Sphere

Untitled
Deleted the Grand Mosque reference. I have never read in any book on Yamasaki or the Trade Center that ever said anything other than that the plaza was a either a giant zen garden or an analogue to Piazzo San Marco in Venice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.193.20.87 (talk • contribs)


 * It was in a Slate article from late 2001 that I have been meaning to find. Daniel Case 20:58, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

Children's Coloring Page
Does anyone else find it a bit odd that there is a children's coloring page for a sculpture damaged by an act of terrorism? This seems somewhat disrespectful--personally, I question the appropriateness of linking the wikipedia article to such a page (particularly one featuring animated commercial advertisements)... -Grammaticus Repairo 22:34, 21 October 2007 (UTC)


 * It came up in the Google searching I was doing when originally creating the article. Either that, or I think it was linked from one of other pages I had used a source. While I differ with you about whether that's appropriate or not, I think I will pull the link as copyright infringing (if we have to give full credit when showing pictures of copyrighted art, the creators of that page need to acknowledge it's a derivative work as well). Daniel Case 23:33, 21 October 2007 (UTC)

Bible Inside The Sphere?
I've heard this story from various Christian sources, that an intact Bible was found inside The Sphere after the destruction of the WTC, but I can't find any independent sources confirming it. Neither of the cites for this article says anything about it. Is there any credible source for this claim because it sounds like glurge.

70.242.200.91 (talk) 20:20, 2 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm the guilty party. When I first wrote this we weren't as picky about sources as we are now, and this sort of thing is why that changed. I can't even remember where I found it. Daniel Case (talk) 20:36, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

nothing can mimic or immitate ka'ba. nothing existed for mimic as a wonderful structure —Preceding unsigned comment added by 182.156.16.178 (talk) 09:26, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Fixed Up Layout
As can be seen by the above banner, The Sphere has been included in the WikiProject Public art (WSPA), a relatively new WikiProject that has been making a bit of a splash for us locally in Indianapolis as well as in Wikipedia & WikiMedia in general. I'm in the midst of creating a lesson plan that utilizes WSPA and I chose The Sphere as the interest hook in the lesson. I found it to be extremely evocative - it is a great example of how knowing the provenance of the work can make it that much more meaningful to the public (a key point we're trying to get across with WSPA, along with our goal to expand the coverage of public art on Wikipedia). To this end, I updated this page with our WSPA Article Template. One of our goals is to have a streamlined template for public art in Wikipedia, so to that end, and since this article will be representing WSPA, hopefully, in many classrooms, I updated the layout with our template. If you're interested in learning more, let me know! Thanks! HstryQT (talk) 01:06, 26 March 2010 (UTC)

Use image before, or after?
Should we show the statue in it's current state, since it is still serving the purpose of being artwork? | help dןǝɥ  | 16:42, 11 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I would prefer that we do; however the problem is that any image of it is a derivative work of the sculpture per U.S. copyright law and none of the existing images of it are properly licensed and rationaled and the uploaders have not been reached. If a new image was created and uploaded (well, I had one from several years back that was deleted that, I suppose, I could restore and license and rationalize properly). Daniel Case (talk) 05:50, 12 September 2011 (UTC)


 * Since The Sphere was 'published' before 1978, don't derivative works fall into the public domain as per this? Communist00 (talk) 13:44, 1 May 2012 (UTC)
 * The question would be whether it was published without some sort of attribution or even a copyright notice, and if that provision applies to three-dimensional artwork, which is not as easy to include a copyright notice with as it is with 2-D. In any event, derivative works of PD works are not PD themselves; the author may fully copyright them (so, for instance, the film 10 Things I Hate About You isn't in the public domain even though it's a derivative work of The Taming of the Shrew]], which is). Daniel Case (talk) 14:52, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Intro paragraph
The first paragraph, last sentence states: "Although it remained structurally intact, it had been visibly damaged by debris from the airliners that were crashed into the buildings and from the collapsing skyscrapers themselves."

There is enough lack of evidence, and rigorous data and research suggesting alternate theories on the events of 9/11 that don't include airplane wreckage. It warrants omitting the portion of that statement that references the airliners. The statement should be changed to "Although it remained structurally intact, it had been visibly damaged by airborne debris." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.20.198.161 (talk) 06:06, 27 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Oh brother. Truther trolls. Daniel Case (talk) 06:10, 28 December 2012 (UTC)


 * Planes hit the Twin Towers. There is simply no denying that. 66.31.76.221 (talk) 20:06, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Does it still turn?
Does the Sphere still turn as it did originally or was the mechanism damaged or perhaps simply not turned back on? 66.31.76.221 (talk) 20:05, 31 March 2013 (UTC)
 * Good question. Nobody knows has an answer? --84.73.226.237 (talk) 20:45, 8 November 2015 (UTC)
 * It was not turning 35 years ago when my habit was to eat lunch under it. It was not turning four weeks ago when I visited. Jim.henderson (talk) 18:26, 4 December 2017 (UTC)

Official name
According to this Times article, the official name of the sculpture is "Sphere for Plaza Fountain": https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/nyregion/911-memorial-sphere-sculpture.html Ulmanor (talk) 23:39, 30 November 2017 (UTC)
 * When I did the research for this article years ago, I went by Koenig's original title, which is in the infobox. Daniel Case (talk) 20:30, 4 December 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 3 external links on The Sphere. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110301190115/http://www.dnainfo.com/20110228/downtown/911-family-members-start-petition-save-world-trade-center-sphere to http://www.dnainfo.com/20110228/downtown/911-family-members-start-petition-save-world-trade-center-sphere
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110228170040/http://gothamist.com/2011/02/28/world_trade_center_spheres_uncertai.php to http://gothamist.com/2011/02/28/world_trade_center_spheres_uncertai.php
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20170818173307/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160721/financial-district/koenig-sphere-moving-wtc-liberty-park-port-authority-says to https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160721/financial-district/koenig-sphere-moving-wtc-liberty-park-port-authority-says

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Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 00:35, 7 January 2018 (UTC)

“Eternal” flame
I think the “eternal flame” was added when the sculpture was temporarily installed in Battery Park. The article makes no mention of it after the 2017 relocation. Is there an “eternal flame” at the new location of The Sphere, or for that matter, anywhere associated with the 9/11 Memorial? Reify-tech (talk) 15:58, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

Sphere rotation speed
Need to clarify. Sources (like the University of Columbia pdf file) and this page from the Koenig Museum state that the sphere did turn on its axis every 15 minutes. However, everywhere else and even former employees/visitors stated that it rotated once every 24 hours.

Makes me wonder, what is the actual rotation speed? While I'd love to stick by 'once per 24 hours' based on Koenig's intended symbolism and the fact that former employees themselves stated this, I do feel the need to actually clarify. Thank you!! ChaeChaeyeoniee (talk) 10:21, 2 May 2024 (UTC)