World Trade Center Reconstruction

[psukhu]

A design for the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site by the Studio Daniel Libeskind which was selected February 4, 2003 as one of the final two designs being considered for the site. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced today that the Daniel Libeskind design seen here, and the concept called World Cultural Center developed by 'Team Think' would be the final two designs considered for development. REUTERS/LMDC/Handout

[psukhu]

This proposed design by an architectural team known as THINK is one of two plans picked as finalists in the selection of a design to rebuild the World Trade Center, a source familiar with the plans said Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2003. The THINK team proposed the World Cultural Center, whose lacy 1,665-foot towers have been called 21st-century Eiffel Towers. (AP Photo/LMDC )

[gc]

I am curious to see which of these gets developed and how different it is from the original plans.

[freewaytincan]

Well, it could have been worse. I certainly hope and pray that the plan from THINK is not used. My opinion is that it is functionless and I think meaningless. The Liebskind plan is far more promising. Who agrees?

[psukhu]

I think the number one request by New Yorkers was the the skyline be restored with a tower(s) that is taller than the old towers.

I can't blame them.

I also like the Libeskind proposal.

[psukhu]

Libeskind

[psukhu]

Libeskind 2

[jsoto3]

of the seven schemes proposed here (http://www.lowermanhattan.info/rebuild/new_design_plans/), and the two final cuts, i prefer libeskind's. however, i'd rather not see any of these built. i prefer this (http://www.schwartzarch.com/weststreet.htm) scheme where west street is put into a tunnel, built over with anything that would be built on the wtc site, and the wtc site left completely open for a park and memorial(s).

[psukhu]

Is there a signature tower in the West street proposal?

[tamtagon]

I'd like the towers rebuilt just as they were.

[jsoto3]

this is more of a strategy for development than a specific building proposal. anything can happen where the yellow is, including a 'signature tower' adjacent to the site (same place in skyline). i think the architect who proposed this envisioned west street developing into a typical manhattan avenue (intentionally landscaped, like a boulevard), accommodating all of the desired office space, but also including residential towers, hotels, civic buildings, pocket parks, etc. this strategy leaves the whole site open as a memorial site that could double as a significant park, yet it still provides the potential for the typical vitality of manhattan that should be in place to honor the lives lost. it also stitches battery park city (along the river) back into downtown.

[jsoto3]

d'oh, i just realized they removed the other five proposals from the link above. anyway, foster's scheme was pretty nice also. he proposed the 'twinned tower.'

[freewaytincan]

Yeah, I wanted Foster's, too. I certainly hope they don't go and actually make those towers multiple colors! That would be horrible, really.

[CTroyMathis]

How about some 'rebuild' discussion...?
Thoughts? (Entire scope of project, maybe not just the towering aspiration of the plan...)

( The latest evolved design of the tallest tower: )

[bloodandpopcorn]

I think it's a beautiful rendering. What is the current planned usage for the building? Wasn't it originally to be just a multi-level forest-inside-a-building type of thing? I like its wavy, curvy nature. And leaving the holes (or, perhaps, fountains?) in the footprints of the WTC is a nice touch, I think.

[freewaytincan]

I saw this earlier. I don't like the Freedom Tower, honestly. I think it's simply unattractive. Sorry. I think that where we are now is definitely a good point to stop and just build. A great rendering, I will say. The new spire design is oddly reminiscent of the spire on a certain Dallas building...

Something just occured to me that hit me like a punch in the stomach...all that tan color in the trees and on across the street...they're all plaques with names. There are just so many...

[Foucault]

I'm not extremely fond of the entire development, and the top of Freedom Tower looks strange to me (though maybe the rendering makes it look worse). But, it's better than the WTC. The World Trade Center buildings disgusted me with their ode to greed. But what a horrible way to go...

[boozo]

This one is better.

http://archrecord.construction.com/news/wtc/archives/040310teamtwin.asp

[tamtagon]

I'm with boozo, I like the idea.


“It stands for resolve, it stands for strength, it stands for renewal,” says Gardner. “To see the towers return would have an inspirational impact on the population. It's a living memorial, and I think it's more powerful than pretending 9/11 never happened.”

I dont know about "It's a living memorial" but I think it would be cool.

I also dont like the name "Freedom Tower" for the other building.

[boozo]

Originally posted by Foucault
ode to greed

???

All of the times I had looked at the World Trade Center, I never had that thought. I only thought, "Wow, my country did this!"

You must have seizures when you look at the buildings in Hong Kong or Shanghai!

What greedy people!

[dallastophoenix]

right, i agree...
i don't see "ode to greed." i see "ode to what the market demands." there were so many residents and businesses displaced w/o those buildings...

[gc]

I never thought "ode to greed" either. But it was actually built with greed, ego, and braggadocio. Some of the folks in charge, as well as opponents, never thought they could lease all that space....but they did....and it was a wonderful sight.

The market certainly did not demand it at that time, in fact there were tons and tons of empty space in uptown manhattan. anyhoo.

[F4shionablecHa0s]

The WTC was an ode to greed because the buildings were constructed with no thought to asthetic value. They were huge, massive boxes designed to cram as many people as possible into a small space so those people could work to make their rich bosses money.

As far as Freedom Tower, is the completely useless upper half of the building being including in the height figure? It looks like the building will be rediculously slender, so they probably weren't able to fill in the upper part of the building to keep the damn thing from snapping in half in the wind. I think that they should have forgotten about keeping the building's foundations intact and used the space the former buildings occupied. The best monument to the originals would be a functional design where people can go on with their lives without fear.

That being said, there's no way in hell anyone's going to want to work there. If the terrorists strike again (and they will strike again) after Freedom Tower is built, I'll give you one guess as to the attack site at the top of their list.

[freewaytincan]

Originally posted by F4shionablecHa0s
The WTC was an ode to greed because the buildings were constructed with no thought to asthetic value. They were huge, massive boxes designed to cram as many people as possible into a small space so those people could work to make their rich bosses money.

That's true to some degree, though the inside was nice at times. My dad worked on the ninth floor of the North Tower while it was under construction ('72 to '73, I think) and after his office was moved elsewhere (though he was moving to Dallas soon after), some section of AMEX moved in, and in the largest office, some big important manager/executive had a fireplace installed.

[texcolo]

That's a beautiful rendering of the Freedom Tower.

I hate to say this... but they WTC was pretty beastie, and the replacement looks even beastier.

I think the Freedom tower is looking pretty elegant.

[gc]

Originally posted by F4shionablecHa0s
The WTC was an ode to greed because the buildings were constructed with no thought to asthetic value. They were huge, massive boxes designed to cram as many people as possible into a small space so those people could work to make their rich bosses money.


That simply is not true. Do some research about the architect. You'll find that he put a lot of thought into it. With that said, there were/are many people that think it was/is ugly. You are certainly entitled to your opinion.

[mikedsjr]

Well it was certainly a symbol of Western greed or power that struck it.

I never looked at the building and saw Ode to Greed. But I imagine if i walked the halls of that buildiing and saw the inside, I might come away with that.

There are buildings in Dallas that say Ode to Greed that you might not think that from the outside, but the insides are completely dedicated to it. Some not tall at all.

I think the "Tower of Freedom" is corny. That is what i think. If they are going to be that corny than they might as well build it to look like an ass with a boot in it.

[gc]

A Shorter List of Visions at Ground Zero
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Published: September 18, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/18/nyregion/18rebuild.html?pagewanted=1

Some of the most celebrated architects in the world, and some whose names are barely recognized outside their own countries, will be competing in the next few weeks to design the museums and theaters at the World Trade Center site. Frank Gehry, Rem Koolhaas and Daniel Libeskind were among those on two long "short lists" of designers that survived a winnowing earlier this week; six for the museums, 10 for the theaters. Kevin M. Rampe, the president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, announced them yesterday to a conference of architects and planners (at least one of whom, Hugh Hardy, made the list) at New York University.

A final selection is expected in early October, Mr. Rampe said, and will be made by the institutions themselves: the Joyce Theater International Dance Center and the Signature Theater Center, for a 250,000-to-300,000-square-foot performing arts complex next to the Freedom Tower, and the Drawing Center and the International Freedom Center, for a 250,000-to-275,000-square-foot museum complex across Fulton Street. It's going to be a very difficult process because we have tremendous architects in both of those lists to choose from," Mr. Rampe said. "And the one thing we know for certain is that these are going to be amazing buildings once they're designed and constructed," which should be by 2009. The teams were instructed not to begin designing yet but to wait for interviews that are to begin next week.

Two selection panels chose the firms for the lists from among 60 proposals that the development corporation had received by its Sept. 1 deadline. Well-known names on the short lists were Shigeru Ban, Gehry Partners, Rem Koolhaas OMA, Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos, Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Polshek Partnership Architects, Moshe Safdie & Associates, Rafael Viñoly Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien & Associates. Among the firms that are not yet household names in New York - but certainly could be with such a commission - was Snohetta, the Norwegian firm responsible for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the new library of Alexandria, Egypt.

"I thought it was a good list," said Fredric M. Bell, executive director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, which organized the conference, "Learning from Lower Manhattan," at which Mr. Rampe made his announcement. Mr. Bell added, "I don't know the long list, so I don't know who was left off." Impressive as the lists are, the prospect of more architects descending on a 14.6-acre site where at least eight architects are already working raises the question of whether the final trade center redevelopment will be - or should be - a harmonious ensemble, a vibrant mix or a dissonant jumble of architectural styles.

"I don't believe it's a place for the baroque expression of personality or for techno-virtuosity," said James Stewart Polshek of the Polshek Partnership in Manhattan, one of two firms that made both short lists. Mr. Polshek said the architects faced the complicated challenge of trying to design buildings that expressed, distinctly and unambiguously, the identities of their cultural occupants while serving "a larger population that's interested in the sanctity of the site."

Mr. Safdie, whose firm in Somerville, Mass., was also on both short lists, said, "There are so many agendas here to be fulfilled." "To me," he said, "it's going to be a delicate balance between cohabiting effectively - almost, I'd say, with respect to what's around it - and at the same time making a strong statement." Also, he said, by the very nature of the compact site, both museum and theater complexes, which are typically horizontal, will have to be vertically organized. Because the Joyce and Signature companies will be choosing one architect and the Freedom Center and Drawing Center will be choosing the other, it is theoretically possible that Mr. Polshek or Mr. Safdie could end up as the designer of both buildings.

Studio Daniel Libeskind, which is the master planner of the trade center site but has yet to actually design one of the buildings there, was placed on the short list for the theaters but not the museums, even though Mr. Libeskind's reputation when he arrived on the New York scene two years ago turned largely on the Jewish Museum in Berlin. "We move on," said his wife, Nina Libeskind, chief operating officer of the architectural practice. "There are other things in life that are very exciting. The performing arts short list is something we're delighted to be participating in." Ms. Libeskind noted that the firm is also now working on the Performing Arts Center at Grand Canal Square in Dublin. "This is something new for us," she said, "and it's something we're very excited by, and it expands our repertoire."

The lists are also notable because they bring back two architects to the site - Mr. Ban and Mr. Viñoly - who were runners-up last year to Studio Daniel Libeskind in the selection of a master planner. In 2003, they were allied in a team called Think, which proposed the World Cultural Center: two open latticework towers in which different architects would have designed a memorial, an interpretive museum, a performing arts center, a conference center and an amphitheater. This year, Mr. Ban appears in partnership with Frei Otto on the short list for the museums. Mr. Viñoly, whose office is in Lower Manhattan and who recently completed the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, is on the short list for the theaters.

"It's a great opportunity and something that certainly brings me back to the excitement of the whole process," Mr. Viñoly said yesterday. "It's a spectacular chance. It's a kind of ingredient that could not only propel the success of the site as a whole but also the success of the whole neighborhood, the whole region."

Mr. Hardy, of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, is on the list for the performing arts center. His previous firm, Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, renovated the former Elgin Theater at Eighth Avenue and 19th Street for use by the Joyce Theater. He is working with Mr. Norten, a juror in the memorial competition who is designing the Visual and Performing Arts Library of the Brooklyn Public Library. Asked yesterday whether he and Mr. Norten had begun their design, Mr. Hardy said cheerfully, "Good God, no," explaining that the finalists had been instructed not to produce any drawings and renderings. But he did say of the underlying planning principles: "It should all fit together. That's what cities do."

"We don't need a Lincoln Center," he added. "We already have one."

The finalists, Mr. Rampe said, were chosen by the development corporation and cultural institutions, working with a group of advisers: Alexander Cooper of the architectural firm Cooper, Robertson & Partners; Agnes Gund, former president of the Museum of Modern Art; Kate D. Levin, commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Joseph V. Melillo, the executive producer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music; Charles A. Shorter Jr., a trustee of the Studio Museum in Harlem; and Anne Van Ingen of the New York State Council on the Arts.

[Haretip]

Here is an update on the construction of World Trade Center 7. Fellow surveyor Scott Zelenak, who works for the Port Authority in New York, posted pictures of the site and has commentary on the www.rpls.com website (http://www.i-boards.com/bnp/pob/messages.asp?MsgID=460380&ThreadID=45068&IsResponse=False#460380)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/ssz0407/DCP_3350.jpg

[gc]

^ Wow. It is still gut-wrenching to see the site.

[freewaytincan]

I went back to SkyScraperCity for the first time in months and looked it up. I found these images dated November 13 from here - http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=94697&page=4

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0029.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0021.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image00181.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0012.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0009.JPG

[gc]

^ Not showing up for me!?

[freewaytincan]

Well, I see it. Anyone else not see it? Does anyone ever come down here anymore?

[Foucault]

I don't see the pictures.

[drumguy8800]

I believe that they have restrictions on external image usage. Here's what ya gotta do.

(For Internet Explorer) : Right-click on a link, click 'Copy Shortcut,' and in a new browser window, paste the file into the address bar. Then they'll work.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0029.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0021.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image00181.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0012.JPG

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/photopost/data/3196/24042004_1113Image0009.JPG

Once you have gone to these pictures, they will show up in the forum because of IE (or your browser's) temp storage.

[Geaux Tigers]

Somebody needs to send these pictures to Osama bin Laden with a big F.U. in the subject line!!

[Justin Terveen]

I can't see anything either... I'm just going to host a few that LeCom shot, probably the same ones posted above.. sorry if so..
this guy is really quite young... and off to a great start.


http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101154&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101154&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101160&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101160&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101158&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101158&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101157&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101157&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101156&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101156&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101155&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101155&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101152&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101152&c=.gif)

[freewaytincan]

Great pictures, but who is LeCom?

[Justin Terveen]

LeCom is a forumer on SSC... pictured below along with some other folks you might know..

Starting from the left...

Ellatur in beige, Jan followed by him, LeCom in white, jacksom in black next to him, savethewtc (Jack) in black in front of jacksom, Swede behind the palm tree, phxmania to the right of him, Dennis in red.

http://imagehost.biz/ims/pictes/101195.jpg

:D

[freewaytincan]

Holy mackerel, I know who that is now! And let me just say that savethewtc is much different than what I expected.

[Justin Terveen]

:D yup.. me too.. (Jack)

Jan as well... you know for the longest time I thought Jan was a she :o ..
Dennis informed me otherwise during a chat session.. he got a pretty big kick out of it...
I also had to convince him that "Jan" is a female name in the states :D

[Justin Terveen]

Jan @ the wtc site

http://imagehost.biz/ims/pictes/101197.jpg

pano by Jan, with Dennis shooting on the far right...

http://imagehost.biz/ims/pictes/101198.jpg

[freewaytincan]

...you know for the longest time I thought Jan was a she...

A lot of people go through that.

And that is an amazing panoramic! I really dig the contrast of the more quiet neighborhood going on at the right, and the beautiful midtown skyline on the left.

[Justin Terveen]

...and that is an amazing panoramic! I really dig the contrast of the more quiet neighborhood going on at the right, and the beautiful midtown skyline on the left.

yea, you don't see views like this near enough... very nice.. great timing.

I can't wait for Jan to break out the big guns.. he'll post all of his soon.. :D

[Justin Terveen]

wtc 7 by: savethewtc

http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101362&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101362&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101363&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101363&c=.gif) http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/thumb.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101364&c=.gif (http://www.imagehost.biz/ims/pic.php?u=2074NSwFa&i=101364&c=.gif)

[psukhu]

Donald Trump offers to rebuild World Trade Center twin towers

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20050519/ts_alt_afp/usattackswtctrump_050519003224

New York property tycoon Donald Trump unveiled his design for "bigger, stronger and better" twin towers to replace the World Trade Center originals destroyed on September 11, 2001.

Denouncing the existing plans for rebuilding Ground Zero as the "worst pile of crap architecture I've ever seen," Trump argued that erecting two new, even taller twin towers was the only valid response to the terrorists.

The consummate self-promoter, known as "The Donald," showed off his proposal just weeks after the official master design was put on hold because of security concerns surrounding the centerpiece 1,776 foot Freedom Tower.

Describing the Freedom Tower as an "empty skeleton," Trump said its construction would be a capitulation.

"If we rebuild the World Trade Center in the form of a skeleton ... the terrorists win. It's that bad," he told reporters gathered in the lobby of his Fifth Avenue Trump Towers headquarters in Manhattan.

The design put forward by Trump and his structural engineer Kenneth Gardner, essentially offers a modified version of the original twin towers, erected in the early 1970s.

The replacements would be at least 1,475-feet (449.6 m) tall, more than 100 feet (30.1 m) higher than their previous incarnations. The new North Tower would also boast a 383-foot (116.7 m) communications mast.

"It's bigger, it's stronger and it's better than the previous World Trade Center, and it sets the right tone and the right attitude," Trump said, adding that some members of the public who had seen the model had been moved to tears.

Charles Wolf, whose wife was killed in the North Tower, was more circumspect in his appraisal of the model.

"It spooked me when I first saw it ... the idea of the towers rising again," Wolf said.

"I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but it's an interesting idea," he added.

The Trump-backed towers -- he promised not to attach his name to the buildings -- would employ a tube-within-a-tube design with improved fireproofing and larger stairwells.

Gardner said the structures would be able to withstand the kind of attacks that brought down the original towers on September 11, 2001 killing 2,479 people.

Ground Zero master planner Daniel Libeskind, branded an "egghead" by Trump over the design of the Freedom Tower, fired off a letter to the property tycoon this week, pointing out that he was not responsible for the building's problems.

The Polish-born architect stressed that the footprint and twisting shape of the tower were the work of David Childs, who was hired by Ground Zero developer Larry Silverstein to modify Libeskind's vision.

"I am sure that all of us, whatever the shape of our head or its decorative accessory agree that security is the paramount concern for the new tower," Libeskind wrote in a thinly-veiled dig at Trump's distinctive hairstyle.

In a report published in April, the New York Police Department voiced concerns that the planned location of the Freedom Tower was too close to Manhattan's Westside Highway.

A subsequent meeting between New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki and police officials concluded that a new design was required.

"They should throw it all away," was Trump's assessment of the design rethink.

"This is what people want," he said of his own proposal. "It's a better memorial. It's a greater building. This is what the World Trade Center was."

The Freedom Tower was originally scheduled to be topped out at the end of 2008 or the beginning of 2009.

The design of the tower, and indeed that of the entire Ground Zero redevelopment project, has been the source of bitter dispute -- between the architects involved and also the often competing interests of the victims' families, the developers and the politicians.

The tensions have arisen from the different priorities attached to the project, with some seeing a site of remembrance, others a future place of work and still more a symbol of rebirth.

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20050518/i/r3399317026.jpg?x=210&y=345&sig=HYUkJja71vKL8h1Y1.QHQg--

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20050518/i/r1050901595.jpg?x=190&y=345&sig=_aHmdrGRHPn.DvL31ml8uA--

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20050518/i/r2657555041.jpg?x=380&y=246&sig=0Rye5bkI3zibHKQsX7IB.g--

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050518/capt.nyr10105181433.trump_twin_towers__nyr101.jpg? x=222&y=345&sig=CIv2zv0JyIMoG9iikaRVgw--

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20050517/i/r1996284670.jpg?x=270&y=345&sig=uhDCcxXb4qMMm1NsPUPD4Q--

[rantanamo]

Cuban needs to respond to this. Trump is kickin his butt.

[texman]

What a stupid idea. At first I didn't think this was serious. The buildings shouldnt even resemble the original WTC.

[msutton]

i think rebuilding is a fantastic idea

[Columbus Civil]

More proof than you can be butt ugly and still get hot trim if you're rich.