The form of the column is determined in large part by precedents, which are very numerous. The first such column was erected under the Roman emperor Trajan, to mark a military success. New York City already has four such columns; the one in Columbus Circle is the best known. Columns of this type also exist in London, Paris, and St. Petersburg, Russia. The latter has a monolithic pillar that is 83 feet long.

The designer's problem is to figure out a setting for the thing. In the beginning I imagined the arrangement shown here, but in July, 2002, the Corporation in charge of developing the site released 6 plans, each of which called for the memorial to be situated in a small park. So I decided to draw the column in a park setting, which seems to be the way that the site will eventually be developed.