Final Design Chosen for WTC site

AP | 2/27/03 | Sara Kugler

[Aquinasfan]

NEW YORK (Feb. 26) - A cluster of sloping, angular buildings with a 1,776-foot spire that would be the tallest in the world was chosen Wednesday as the blueprint to redevelop the World Trade Center site, The Associated Press has learned.

Architect Daniel Libeskind's design beat a plan by an international design team known as THINK, which envisioned two 1,665-foot latticework towers straddling the footprints of the original towers, said a source familiar with the selection. An official announcement is expected Thursday.

The choice of the soaring design, which pays homage to the year America declared its independence, was made by a committee of representatives from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the offices of the governor and mayor.

Both Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg favored the Libeskind plan, an important factor in the decision, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

LMDC Chairman John Whitehead telephoned Libeskind with the news, the source said, telling the architect his ''vision has brought hope and inspiration to a city still recovering from a terrible tragedy.''

Libeskind, who is based in Berlin, declined comment. The source said he told the LMDC chairman that being selected is ''a life-changing experience.''

Deciding what to do with the 16-acre site in Lower Manhattan has been wrenching at times. Relatives of the nearly 2,800 people who died at ground zero called for memorials with a sense of respect and grace, while business officials and others said the city cannot afford to lose too much office space.

The Libeskind design called for 70 stories of offices, with airy ''gardens of the world'' beckoning tourists above office level. It included five starkly geometrical towers and several smaller cultural buildings around the foundations of the fallen towers.

The plan, which may undergo revisions, also called for a Park of Heroes, and a memorial encompassing the footprints of the fallen towers. The spire was designed to house a garden all the way to its top, and not office space, because ''gardens are a constant affirmation of life,'' Libeskind said in December.

He has estimated the cost of building his design at $330 million.

Developer Larry Silverstein, who owns the lease on the trade center site, said earlier this month he was not satisfied with either plan.

Howard Rubenstein, a spokesman for Silverstein, said Wednesday he ''has great respect for the architect,'' and looks forward to working with him to ''get this project moving.''

Rubenstein said Silverstein had no comment on the elements of the plan.

The design competition was launched after an initial set of plans, released in July, was derided as boring and overstuffed with office space. Nine proposals were unveiled Dec. 18.

The two finalists each featured buildings surpassing Malaysia's 1,483-foot Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest in the world. The World Trade Center towers stood 1,350 feet tall. A small number of telecommunications towers would still be taller than the Libeskind spire.

After the two finalists were chosen, both were asked to revise their designs to make them more easily realized. Libeskind, whose original design called for a memorial 70 feet below ground, reportedly changed that to 30 feet, allowing for infrastructure and transportation underneath.

Lee Ielpi, whose firefighter son died in the Sept. 11 attack, praised the design because it preserved much of the sunken area within the twin towers' foundation.

''That land was consecrated by the blood of the people who were lost that day,'' Ielpi said.

The final plan could be altered to accommodate victims' relatives who don't approve of plans to build parking areas at the base of the 70-foot pit, the source said.

Libeskind, 57, has said he included the sunken space because he was inspired by the immense slurry walls that hold back the Hudson River - what he says are the most dramatic elements to survive the terrorist attack. He wanted visitors to be able to visit the hallowed ground in a quiet, meditative space.

Other revisions to the plan were not disclosed Wednesday, but Libeskind's design as presented in December called for a museum in that sunken space, near where he envisioned a memorial will be placed.

A separate competition for a memorial design will begin this spring.

The LMDC was created by Pataki and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani after Sept. 11 to oversee the rebuilding of the trade center site and downtown Manhattan. The Port Authority owns the site.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

He has estimated the cost of building his design at $330 million.

The twin towers were valued at $3,000,000,000 apiece.

I refuse to believe that this structure can be built for 11% of the cost of ONE of the twin towers.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

He has estimated the cost of building his design at $330 million.

That's what they said about the Big Dig up here. Shhaa. Right When monkies fly out of my butt.

[eno_]

The original WTC was built for a lot less than the $330M estimated for the replacement.

[Dont Tread On Me Eh?]

Not to sh*t on everyone's parade, but how is this spire the tallest one in the world? The CN tower (tall, phallic-looking structure that defines the Toronto skyline) is 1815 feet tall.

[theFIRMbss]

>"Relatives of the nearly 2,800 people who died at ground zero called for memorials with a sense of respect and grace, while business officials and others said the city cannot afford to lose too much office space."

A terror attack
happens, and then is over.
This business mindset

"attacks" constantly.
Every day, the Western world
becomes less human.

Even as we fight
Islam's cultural attacks
on human freedom

from outside the West,
our leaders declare that rent
means more to New York

than three thousand deaths,
and remembrance of those deaths.
Even if we beat

Islam, I'm afraid
our leaders' "business" values
will destroy the West...

[Paradox]

No one will ever be able to look at them without remembering what happened there.

Exactly, so while at first it may seem innappropriate, perhaps this design is exactly what is needed..

[shadowman99]

>>Not to sh*t on everyone's parade, but how is this spire the tallest one in the world? The CN tower (tall, phallic-looking structure that defines the Toronto skyline) is 1815 feet tall.

Aw, c'mon! It's the tallest! Don't bother us with facts! You aren't supposed to notice (at least until after it's built).

All Hail the Spire of Envoronmentalism!!!

[Wright is right!]

"The CN tower (tall, phallic-looking structure that defines the Toronto skyline) is 1815 feet tall."

That's 1815 feet Canadian. That comes out to 1349 feet U.S.

Man, what IS the problem with the FR server this morning? It's GLACIALLY SLOW.

Michael

[Fester Chugabrew]

". . . but how is this spire the tallest one in the world?"

My guess: a spire is different by definition, i.e. not all of a given structure is "spire."

[Wright is right!]

Actually, the CN Tower is a self-supporting tower not attached to a building, and exists for electronic transmission and aesthetic purposes. Oh, and I think there's a restaurant in it. There are a LOT of 2000'-plus radio and TV towers in the US, but they don't count, either, since they aren't buildings built for human occupancy.

This will be the tallest building in the world constructed for regular occupancy.

Michael

[Wright is right!]

Actually, the CN Tower is a self-supporting tower not attached to a building, and exists for electronic transmission and aesthetic purposes. Oh, and I think there's a restaurant in it. There are a LOT of 2000'-plus radio and TV towers in the US, but they don't count, either, since they aren't buildings built for human occupancy.

This will be the tallest building in the world constructed for regular occupancy.

Michael

[Axolotl]

I disagree with most of you.

Not only do I like this design, it has been my favorite all along.

I like the crystal look, it is not a box. It looks modern, but not contorted. The lower buildings are practical office space. The spire is mostly unoccupied (would you want an office there), but serves as a tourist attraction and landmark. To top it off, this design really added to the skyline, a capstone that stood out, but it did not dominate the skyline like the last alternative.

I have trouble finding faults with this design.

[ArrogantBustard]

Not shards of glass:

Quartz Crystals.

[Desdemona]

ping

[redheadtoo]

The Vertical Gardens of the World remind me of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. This new design could become one of the wonders of the modern world.

[shadowman99]

I just want to know where the beam up point is located for the Phantom Zone.

[finnman69]

Ok, here's my architectural opinion in this.

I have been disappointed with almost all of the schemes. Personally I liked the Foster scheme the best (twin linked triangular towers).

The Liebskind scheme was picked because it is the most flexible, and will be THE EASIEST TO CHANGE. The Port Authority already wants to add a bus garage at the bottom of the bathtub. PA engineers also have announced that the existing bathtub walls will have to be covered up and protected from the elements or they will degrade. So, by covering up the bathtub walls you wipe out the concept of leaving the walls visible as a testament to their strength. Frankly they are fragile and have to be protected from the weather.

I also have issue with creating a huge memorial plaza 75' down in a hole. This is NYC, NYers and tourists go out of their way to avoid public plazas that involve more than 2 steps up or down. Bad concept. Some of the worst public plazas in NYC are located up or down a level. Holes in the ground do not make for inviting public spaces, plus they act as huge urban barriers that block the paths of pedestrians.

The towers themselves are pie in the sky if you don't build commercial spaceto pay for the rebuilding costs. I think the garden in the sky sounds nice, but in truth will be very very costly. Is the best use for the top of the tower a 1776' elevator ride so you can ride down escalators through an atrium garden? Comments?

The forms of the towers can be ok, and I love having the tallest building back in NYC. The bizarre angular cystaline facade detail expressed in the renderings is awful however. It will be worse in reality. I know he tends to mfavor angular random crystaline shapes, but an expression that suggests deconstructed facades and worse, recalls the jutting, twisted wreckage of the original WTC is in very poor taste. I also think the guy is color blind.

I also predict that Liebskind will eventually quit the commission as he is forced to compromise and modify his design. He has a terrible reputation as a theorist and an idealist. He is not a pragmatist. Much of his work is as yet unbuilt. Just check his website to see how bizarre he is (weblink below). Wait till he has to deal with real commercial developers, the Port Authority, prospective tenants, and City Planning. I see major fireworks coming. Almost all of his buildings have been museums. He has ZERO commercial experience.

People here shoud really educate themselves as to what Liebskind's buildings REALLY look like. They are very very ugly. Check the site below.

http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/projects/index.html

[redhead]

I'm unimpressed. Here's my choice. Look in the background

[firewalk]

I don't like the designs they came up with (not this one either)

I probably wouldn't like anything other than the original design anyway...

[ARCADIA]

I agree the thing looks neither practical nor graceful.

The original buildings were borish boxes, twin monuments to the office cubicle, but at least they were what they were meant to be.

I really wouldn't give priority to the tourist, or the 3000 families of the WTC victims. This is a major down town project which should be developed to strengthen lower Manhattan, the city, and perhaps even the country. Yes we should memorialize the original site, but it should be an memorial and not an all encompassing theme. We have millions of people commutting to and working in the financial district every day, and there is little in this structure to cater to them. Where is the multi-million Sq. feet of retail space to create a first rate shopping facility? Why not include a new sports arena, several hotels, a major theater facility, or several? Vast public parking facilities would be a nice plus, a good attraction for the facility and a positive gain for the district, have we included that?

This building lacks purpose. It is designed like an oversized public monument; a purpose made costly boondoggle. There is an opportunity to add attractive and productive space and this does too little of either. It should be grand, and it should be massive; but, it should also be productive and useful.

For years I use to commute through the original WTC without ever stopping to look up. Perhaps once every few years I would ride the elevators up to the observation deck to snap a picture or two, and ever so often I would stop by one of the lower newstands to buy a newspaper or snack. Beyond that the original WTC did little for me. It may have been a great tourist attraction, but, it wasn't much of a destination. I am hoping we can change that this time around. We should turn the WTC into the new town square for NYC, and perhaps for the US too.