A formation of 2,977 illuminated drones recreated the outline of the Twin Towers over New York Harbor on 9 September, in a memorial work marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
The installation, titled '2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor', gave each drone a distinct commemorative role. Each light represented a life lost during the 9/11 terrorist attack on 11 September 2001. Together, the drones traced the former towers at full architectural scale, turning the number of victims into a visible presence in the night sky.
Design studio Drift and architect Shigeru Ban worked on the project, with Addison Mehr as creative director. Drift served as advisers alongside Shigeru Ban and architect Dean Maltz.
The completed installation was illuminated twice, for fifteen minutes each time. After assembling, the drones remained suspended over New York Harbor for several minutes before their lights were switched off.
The work was conceived in dialogue with the annual Tribute in Light, whose skylights are projected from the Twin Towers site each year. That established act of remembrance sends light upwards from the site. '2,977 Lights Over New York Harbor' placed a structure of light above the harbour, using individual drones to give one visual marker to each life lost.
The display treated drone technology as a memorial medium rather than simply a spectacle. Its scale reproduced the towers, while its one-to-one correspondence between drones and victims made the installation's central number integral to its form.
Studio Drift said: 'We could not think of a more impactful use of technology as it is now more important than ever to create the best possible future by using the new tools of our time to never forget the past'.
The studio described the display as 'one of the most important remembrances of our lifetime'. Its use of drones placed a contemporary technological response alongside the continuing tradition of the Tribute in Light, while retaining the Twin Towers as the memorial's defining image.
The project offered no stated explanation for its 9 September date. It nevertheless formed part of the commemoration of the September 11 attacks, drawing on light, architecture and the precise figure of 2,977 to mark the loss remembered by the anniversary.
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