This building represents the aspirations of our time. We hope that history will remember us as the generation who, while confronted by terrorism and violence at home and abroad, chose to create architecture to embody the enduring values of our democracy.

The design is guided by three objectives:
*Create a powerful symbol of the United States
*Develop a new building that functions perfectly
*Become a case study of the ritual of crossing a threshold

Symbolism
This is an important new gateway to the United States. The dramatic landscape and space between the two building masses proudly communicates the openness of America. The building is placed on axis, at the high point of the site, to create an appropriate monumentality and to embody the spirit of the United States as welcoming and secure.