In 2006, as a tribute to the World Trade Center victims on the fifth anniversary of 9/11, book artist Werner Pfeiffer created Out of the Sky: 9/11.   A constructed book, it consists of a series of segments, illustrated by woodcut images of falling victims and their names.  When assembled, the book represents a model of the World Trade Center and is over 5 feet tall.  As the book is deconstructed for storage, that action mirrors the falling of the towers.   The book includes Pfeiffer’s written reflections, colored by his childhood in World War II Germany and his memories of witnessing the towers’ collapse from Pratt Institute’s rooftop in Brooklyn.

Temple University Libraries’ Special Collection Research Center houses number 41 of the limited edition of 52.  View the book in Paley Library lobby on Friday, September 11, 2015.

See a youtube video of Pfeiffer discussing Out of the Sky, or read more about Pfeiffer in Jonathan Rinck’s International Sculpture Center blog.