Posted on 01/22/2004 12:07:26 PM PST by finnman69
NEW YORK - A rebuilt transit hub under the World Trade Center site linking ferries, commuter trains and 14 subway lines will feature natural light shining 60 feet underground, officials familiar with the design said.
The design by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava also features open-air, mechanical walkways and architectural recognition of the 2001 attacks.
Calatrava was to present final drawings Thursday for the $2 billion transit station that New York and New Jersey officials say will be comparable to city landmarks like Grand Central Terminal.
Calatrava, who has designed buildings around the world including the stadium for this summer's Athens Olympics, is adding his design to several related projects introduced in recent weeks for the 16-acre site.
Architects David Childs and Daniel Libeskind last month presented models of the Freedom Tower that would replace the twin towers, and designers Michael Arad and Peter Walker last week offered drawings of a memorial.
Calatrava has had to receive Libeskind's approval for a design that would mesh with the architect's master plan for the site, and is working with New York's STV Group and DMJM & Harris to design a station to replace the one destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.
According to preliminary documents filed with the Federal Transit Administration, the station would still be called the World Trade Center Transportation hub.
A temporary terminal that opened in November is taking more than 24,000 daily riders between New Jersey and Manhattan, said Port Authority of New York and New Jersey spokesman Greg Trevor.
The station had served 67,000 daily passengers before the attacks; the agency said the permanent hub should begin operating in 2006 and could handle more than 80,000 passengers by 2020.
Calatrava's design will feature a glass-and-steel entrance and will let daylight shine 60 feet below ground to its four train platforms, according to the Port Authority, which is in charge of the rebuilding.
It will have an open plaza and mechanical walkways that connect passengers to ferry service at the World Financial Center and other walkways that link the terminal to 14 downtown subway lines.
The design will also restore a mass transit network in lower Manhattan "in a manner that recognizes the horror and heroism of Sept. 11, 2001," Trevor said. He did not elaborate, but said besides improving downtown mass transit, "the World Trade Center transportation hub must be an architectural icon that will inspire generations to come."
Construction could begin by the end of the year, and the new hub should be finished in 2009, the same year the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower is scheduled for completion.
Calatrava is a SOLID architect who makes some of the most beautiful modern buildings ever conceived.
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