WTC Designs

By Katia Hetter and Graham Rayman
STAFF WRITER. Staff writer Monty Phan contributed to this story.

December 19, 2002

Visions unveiled yesterday for rebuilding the World Trade Center site reach for the sky, reclaiming the scene of death and terrible destruction as an urban oasis featuring parks, gardens and memorial sites.

The nine plans from seven teams of internationally renowned architects were greeted with enthusiasm from many officials, families and critics of the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks that destroyed the Twin Towers and killed close to 2,800 people.

The generally positive reaction was a major turnabout from the first round of designs last summer, which were widely panned.

Gov. George Pataki praised the new plans, saying they "really reflect what we want to show the world ... We are not just re-creating what was there, we're moving beyond and we're doing it in a respectful and appropriate way."

The stark proposal by Berlin architect Daniel Libeskind to use the exposed 30-year-old bathtub wall - chipped, worn, studded with rust-flecked tie-backs - in a memorial 70 feet below ground earned immediate support from several family members. "We're looking to go to the bedrock," said retired firefighter Lee Ielpi, who lost his son Jonathan, also a firefighter. "The greatest number of remains were found on the bathtub floor."

London-based Foster and Partners, which proposed a skyscraper at more than 1,750 high, also received praise for a building that would be split in two parts to touch at three points to create triangular public space and observation decks.

"I loved his building," said Tom Roger, who lost his daughter Jean Roger, a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11.

The other plan to earn family support was Peterson/Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design, with twin skyscrapers and ample street-level gardens defined by the footprints of the Twin Towers.

The designs presented across the street from Ground Zero at the Winter Garden ran the gamut from dense urban scenes to towers that "kiss" to one plan keeping three-quarters of the site free of commercial structures.

There was what was called the largest building in the world, a hulking behemoth of 10.4 million square feet. Another offered the world's largest glass room, and another a network of parks at different depths and heights. One design envisions a memorial atop a floating pier on the Hudson River. A building designed to absorb enough of the sun's rays to glow in the evenings and another heated in part by the foliage within drew attention.

The crowd in the repaired Winter Garden - whose soaring glass atrium was crushed when the World Trade Center fell - contained many of the key figures in the rebuilding, including Port Authority chairman Jack Sinagra and World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein.

"This is really the critical moment," said Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff. "We're bringing together the mayor's lower Manhattan plan and what's happening here today."

Four teams recommended creating buildings taller than the tallest buildings in the world - the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 1,483 feet. Each design contained at least one very tall building, despite the lingering concern over safety. Almost every team offered some variation on "parks in the sky" and a subterranean memorial. British architect Lord Norman Foster offered empty space where the towers once sat, places that are, as he said, "full of memories."

A plan - not necessarily any of the nine seen yesterday - is to be decided in the next six weeks. A key player is the Port Authority, which has hired Stanton Eckstut, the designer of Battery Park City, to create its infrastructure plan, which includes transportation. Port Authority chief architect Bob Davidson, who has briefed the seven teams of infrastructure requirements for the trade center site, gave the teams good reviews. "They've basically affirmed all of our transportation infrastructure planning, in various ways, based on how they interpreted the overall plan," said Davidson.

Eckstut, who was reportedly developing a separate site plan for the Port Authority, said he liked what he saw.

"For me, there was a host of wonderful thoughts, I just don't know how they would come together yet," he said. "There were wonderful ideas about skylines, public spaces, transit halls and the memorials in many different settings."

Eckstut sat next to LMDC vice president for planning Alexander Garvin, who voted for another firm over Eckstut to design the poorly reviewed first site plans, released in July. "We'll try to come to a conclusion as quickly as possible," said Garvin. "There's a hole in the ground. We have to fill it."

Garvin and Eckstut must work together over the next month to test the plans for cost and engineering feasibility, while taking public comment. Their agencies have promised to deliver a final plan by Jan. 31.

"There are some great ideas here but I don't know how they are going to get into the final plan," said Martin Pederson, editor of Metropolis, an urban design magazine. "Every single team brought something to the table."

Civic leaders had their own worries, concerned that presenting the plans just before the Christmas holiday would delay analysis of the plans.

"It's an enormously complicated project and we want to give it some consideration," David Dyssagaard Kallick, senior fellow at the Fiscal Policy Institute, part of a coalition lobbying for public sector jobs, affordable housing and other ways to address the economic impact of Sept. 11.

Asked what would happen if the public rejected these plans as they did the previous six, LMDC president Lou Tomson said: "These are, I think, some of the greatest minds of the world," he said, "so in some ways, to reject what they've offered is to say the problem's unsolvable."

The LMDC's Web site crashed last night under the demands of millions of users viewing the new plans online.

Staff writer Monty Phan contributed to this story.

6) MEMORIAL SQUARE

Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Eisman Architects, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, Steven Holl Architects:

Features conjoined buildings resembling

tic-tac-toe grids. At ground level, the buildings form an array of gateways that lead into Memorial Square. To the west, two glass-bottom reflecting pools mark the footprints of the Twin Towers.

7) TOWERING DUAL GLASS

Foster and Partners:

Towering at more than 1,700 feet, the two crystalline structures are based on triangular themes that touch at three points.

8) Buildings are comprised of village-like clusters, each with its own atrium.

9) WEDGE OF LIGHT

Studio Daniel Libeskind:

Large public space designed so it would be distinctively illuminated by the sun on each anniversary of the attack.

10) Would feature a museum, park and a

1,776-foot tower.

11) GUARDIANS IN THE SKY

United Architects:

An interconnected series of buildings creates an enclosure that evokes the protective atmosphere of a cathedral. The buildings form a ring around a vast plaza and park which would be built around the Twin Tower footprints.

12) NEW TWIN TOWERS

Peterson / Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design:

A garden that takes the shape of the WTC footprints is at the heart of this plan. The garden has enclosed walls, offering a tranquil setting for grieving and reflecting.

13) The design features two 1,400-foot towers, an amphitheater and a museum.

14) SKY GARDENS

SOM / SANAA:

A dense cluster of buildings linked by bridges and outdoor terraces form the heart of a vertical metropolis.

15) Complete with museums, libraries and cultural facilities, the buildings would each have rooftop gardens, that, viewed from the sky, would form a dramatic patchwork of greenery.

16) THREE CONCEPTS

THINK:

(Rooftop Park) Team offers three approaches. The first features a rooftop park.

17) (The Great Room) The second includes a vast, glass-covered plaza called the Great Room as its centerpiece and a 2,100-foot tower.

18) (World Cultural Center) For the third, two lattice towers soar over the site, creating a World Cultural Center. The structures are built on the Twin Towers footprints - but without touching them.

Paris Hilton Sex Video Tape

WORLD TRADE CENTER TERRORIST ATTACK IN NEW YORK
World Trade Center in New York City: world trade center, terrorist attack, afghanistan, osama bin laden, bin laden, taliban, wtc, world trade center new york, new york world trade center, terrorism, world trade center bombing, terrorist, world trade center picture, world trade center photo, usama bin laden, afghanistan map, world trade center attack, wtc picture, world trade center new york city, wtc photo, map of afghanistan, world trade center ny, national tragedy, afghanistan news, world trade center video, world trade center disaster, world trade center pic, nostradamus world trade center, picture of the world trade center, picture of world trade center, wtc attack, who is osama bin laden, osama bin laden photo, the world trade center, bin laden joke, terrorist group, afghanistan taliban, afghanistan taliban, wtc new york, world trade center crash, world trade center victim, wtc video, world trade center plane crash, wtc pic, map afghanistan, osama bin laden picture, Donations For World Trade Center Victims Dot Com, world trade center survivor, world trade center tower, bin laden picture, afghanistan woman, where is afghanistan, afghanistan and the taliban, afghanistan newspaper, world trade center tragedy, wtc missing, world trade center direction, wtc bombing, world trade center missing, taliban woman, wtc victim, world and trade and center, osma bin laden, world trade center in new york, world trade center map, who is bin laden, picture world trade center, afghanistan history, world trade center history, photo world trade center, osama bin laden joke, world trade center devil, afghanistan war, wtc survivor, world trade center attack photo, wtc disaster, world trade center building, world trade center news, world trade center nyc, world trade center tenant, terrorist attack picture, new york tragedy, tragedy, photo of world trade center, ny world trade center, osama bin laden biography, world trade center collapse, world trade center image, picture of afghanistan, world trade center bombing picture, ossama bin laden, world trade center web cam, terrorist handbook, world trade center wallpaper, world trade center attack picture, picture of osama bin laden, afghanistan online, terrorist attack photo, nostradamus wtc, world trade center terrorist attack, afghanistan flag, bin laden photo, bin laden humor, world trade center address, terrorist attack video, world trade center missing person, world trade center twin tower, attack on world trade center, international terrorism, asama bin laden, bin laden cartoon, picture of wtc, kill bin laden, new york terrorist attack, world trade center directory, wtc missing person, history of afghanistan, osam bin laden, the taliban, world trade center business, wtc missing list, terrorist picture, wtc attack photo, picture of bin laden, afghanistan military, bin laden pic, world trade center survivor list, world trade center disaster picture, wtc victim list, kabul afghanistan, terrorist attack on america, wtc crash, afghanistan picture, world trade center photograph, library afghanistan, world trade center disaster photo, population of afghanistan, terrorist organization, world trade center construction, web cam world trade center, wtc devil, osama and bin and laden, world trade center memorial, world trade center victim list, bin and laden, bin laden wanted poster, world trade center cam, nostradamus and world trade center, afghanistan government, woman in afghanistan, new world trade center, video world trade center, world trade center missing list, world trade center satan, world trade center fact, climbing world trade center new york city, bin laden game, osama bin laden pic, terrorist photo, terrorist attack usa, wtc image, taliban government, osama bin laden, new york wtc, counter terrorism, picture wtc, photo wtc, wtc survivor list, world trade center plane, world trade center joke, osoma bin laden, world trade center terrorist, afghani taliban council of europe sep us, osana bin laden, wtc tragedy, wtc tragedy, devil world trade center, world trade center attack video, wtc ny, wtc attack picture, nyc world trade center, satan world trade center, world trade center nostradamus, missing world trade center, new york terrorist, world trade center explosion, afghanistan population, terrorism in america, terrorist attack new york, american tragedy, history of the world trade center, history of world trade center, terrorist bombing, world trade center list, when was the world trade center built, taliban militia, world trade center terrorism, world trade center terrorism, taliban group, plane crash world trade center, world trade center devil picture, photo of the world trade center, wtc missing person list, world trade center missing person list, world trade center smoke, terrorist attack world trade center, world trade center bombing photo, picture of terrorist attack, world trade center and new york, a map of afghanistan, pic of world trade center, center trade world, world trade center tribute, photo of wtc, missing wtc, anti terrorism, usama bin laden home page, bin laden biography, terrorist attack on world trade center, wtc disaster photo, news world trade center, world trade center manhattan, world trade center missing people, world trade center bombing killed injured, workd trade center face, who are the taliban, new york terrorism, wtc plane crash, history of terrorism, taliban history, wtc list, osami bin laden, osama bin laden cartoon, wtc attack video, wtc terrorist attack, wtc joke, taliban in afghanistan, taliban in afghanistan, bin laden poster, terrorist attack u.s, afghanistan geography, wtc tribute, september tragedy, bin laden target, wtc defender, kill osama bin laden, us terrorist attack, wtc missing people, bin laden group, osama bin laden humor, taliban afghanistan, taliban afghanistan, wtc wallpaper, afghanistan joke, afghanistan chat, terrorist cell, terrorist attack in new york, osman bin laden, wtc memorial, terrorist attack on new york, osama bin laden wanted poster, bin laden t shirt, wtc tower, wtc collapse, joke bin laden, where is osama bin laden, afghanistan culture, ussamah bin laden, islamic terrorist, afghanistan web site, usamah bin laden, wtc face, wtc satan, attack on wtc, picture of wtc attack, wtc news, war on terrorism, wtc devil picture, terrorist attack on us, wtc smoke, missing person wtc, wtc virus, wtc disaster picture, afghanistan weather, terrorist attack pic, nuke bin laden, osaman bin laden, terrorist act, wtc web cam, terrorism in new york, wtc bombing picture, terrorist video, art bell terrorist attack, afghanistan photo, radio afghanistan, nostradamus terrorist, biological terrorism, terrorism attack, soviet invasion of afghanistan, information on afghanistan, anti bin laden, picture of the wtc, taliban home page, bin laden interview, usame bin laden, video wtc, twin tower tragedy, terrorist new york, where is bin laden, wtc crash video, victim of wtc, terrorist joke, laden bin osama, bin laden family, afghanistan taleban, wtc jumpers, taliban news, domestic terrorism, taliban web site, fuck bin laden, afghanistan and map, humor bin laden, information on osama bin laden, terrorist news, laden bin, wtc terrorist, wtc terrorist, bomb bin laden, northern alliance afghanistan, afghanistan terrorist, afghanistan terrorist, america tragedy, wtc devil face, terrorist attack image, nostradamus bin laden, devil wtc, osama bin laden game, bin laden wanted dead or alive, islamic terrorism, muslim terrorist, afghanistan embassy, afghanistan northern alliance, anti terrorist, afghanistan army, photo of bin laden, bin laden liquor, pic of wtc, bin laden construction, terrorist attack america, the latest news on the national tragedy, biography of osama bin laden, photo of wtc attack, philippine terrorism, terrorism picture, satan wtc, photo of terrorist attack, arab terrorist, picture of terrorist, terrorist target, bin laden video, victim wtc, ussama bin laden, usama bin laden picture, afghanistan religion, terrorist victim, photo of osama bin laden, war in afghanistan, ny wtc, bin laden song, who is the taliban, osama bin laden interview, terrorist threat, wtc building, american terrorist, colorado hijacking bin laden, wtc map, terrorist atack, taliban womens right, wtc conspiracy, afghanistan taliban history, terrorist web site, afghanistan taliban history, quien es osama bin laden, terrorist world trade center, afghanistan bombing, osama bin laden home page, new york wtc attack, picture of the terrorist attack, wtc nyc, joke about bin laden, taliban law, wtc devil photo, wtc tenant, bio terrorism, nostradamus terrorist attack, russia afghanistan, taliban regime, tragedy in new york, omar bin laden, wtc nostradamus, terrorist attack to aircraft, wtc plane, american terrorist attack, wtc flag, wtc hoax, world trade center tragedy picture, wtc face in smoke, usa terrorist attack, wtc eagle, woman of afghanistan, catholic church terrorism, afghanistan online chat room, terrorist cook book, nyc wtc, wtc flight numbers, osama bin laden target, kipling afghanistan, picture bin laden, devil face wtc, terrorist pic, capital of afghanistan, nostradamus and wtc, wtc donations, wtc bombing photo, russia afghanistan war, funny picture of bin laden, missing in wtc, terrorist list, oussama bin laden, wtc photograph, afghanistan russia map, web cam wtc, osama bin laden video, osuma bin laden, terrorist manual, osamma bin laden, funny picture of osama bin laden, world map afghanistan, attack wtc, china taliban, russian afghanistan war, afghanistan web cam, letter to terrorist, who is/are the osama bin laden, osama bin laden t shirt, terrorist attack on usa, soviet invasion plan map on afghanistan, wtc death, terrorist attack on wtc, terrorist attack on wtc, wtc screensaver, funny bin laden picture, wtc movie, terrorism hit america, cyber terrorism, osama bin laden poster, bin laden dead or alive, mapa de afghanistan, joke about osama bin laden, history of the taliban, world trade center tragedy photo, terrorist attack wtc, american terrorism, terrorist attack wtc, known terrorist, bin laden home page, anarchist cook book terrorist handbook, terrorist activity, terrorist attack nostradamus, osama bin laden egypt, wtc attack pic, terrorist cartoon, bin laden wanted, open letter to a terrorist, funny bin laden, picture osama bin laden, afghanistan geographic map, nuclear terrorism, pic of bin laden, osama bin laden bio, terrorism history, bin laden suck, wtc terrorism, taliban belief, terrorist task force, an american tragedy, afghanistan air force, video of terrorist attack, womens right in afghanistan, attack terrorist, terrorist attack on the world trade center, terrorism statistics, terrorist country, flag of afghanistan, definition of terrorism, nostradamus terrorism, terrorism in the united state, revolutionary association of the woman of afghanistan, attack from terrorist, terrorism photo, open letter to terrorist, islam terrorism, ny tragedy, afghanistan terrain, america terrorist attack, terrorism in usa, news afghanistan, history of taliban, taliban rule, international terrorist, afghanistan on line, how big is afghanistan, terrorism new york, mapa afghanistan, most wanted terrorist, afghanistan topography, the taliban news, us terrorism, bomb afghanistan, photo terrorist attack, terrorist letter, what time is it in afghanistan, afghanistan home page, afghanistan music, terrorist attack in america, afghanistan mountain, geography of afghanistan, taliban joke, middle east afghanistan, middle east terrorist, bin ladin terrorist, trade center tragedy, new york city tragedy, afghanistan terrorism, afghanistan terrorism, taliban religion, afghanistan attack, terrorism counter terrorism, history afghanistan, afghanistan bin laden, afghanistan food, picture terrorist attack, foreign terrorist group, terrorist in new york, taliban execution, islamic terrorist group, afghanistan chat room, information about afghanistan, afghanistan people, us tragedy, terrorist bin laden, population afghanistan, a map of the country afghanistan, bin laden terrorist, map pakistan afghanistan, soviet afghanistan war, what doe taliban mean, tragedy picture, terrorism world trade center, video terrorist attack, victim of terrorist attack, world trade center terrorist attack picture, afghanistan refugee, terrorist attach, taliban song, afghanistan chat rooms, world terrorism, picture of terrorism, sharia taliban bush, afghanistan fact, government of afghanistan, picture of world trade center tragedy, middle east terrorism, terrorism research center, t taliban giving, fatwa terrorism, palestinian terrorism, death terrorism, taliban and afghanistan, picture of the tragedy, taliban humor, world trade terrorism, afghanistan and taliban, terrorism wtc, bin laden terrorism, terrorism in ny, taliban osama bin laden, terrorism afghanistan, afghanistans taliban, taliban chat, woman taliban, information about the taliban, tragedy world trade center, taliban cia, jesse jackson taliban, tragedy quote, taliban islam, terrorist tragedy, taliban official, prayer for tragedy, pakistan taliban, taliban information, tragedy pic, united state tragedy, photo of new york tragedy, world trade center tragedy video, wtc tragedy pic, tragedy in new york city, photo of the world trade center tragedy, the tragedy, tragedy wtc, world trade tower tragedy, tragedy prayer, picture of the national tragedy, the new york tragedy, tragedy in usa. twin towers photo, world trade center, lower manhattan, wtc video, nyc, wtc, world trade centre, world, trade, center, wtc video, wtc attack, picture of wtc, wtc victims, wtc jumper, jumper card, jumper cards, wtc devil, wtm memorial, terrorist, terrorists, osama bin Laden, usama,laden, nyc, twin, towers, news, current news, recent news, breaking news, war, usa, infinite justice, recovery, rebuild, remember, renew, development, housing, financial assistance, victim assistance, memorial, pentagon, air tragedy, air crash, united states, america, Pennsylvania, terrorism, twin towers, christian, music, song for america, american airlines, united airlines, september 11, 911, terrorism, terrorist, hijack, tragedy, crash, attack, war, relief, claim, help, info, information, New York, Washington DC, airline, security, airport, highjack, a picture of the twin tower, wtc photo, wtc jumpers, new york twin tower, wallpaper, history tower twin, center tower trade twin world, twin tower collapse, tower twin video, light tower twin, 11 september tower twin, twin tower memorial, petronas twin tower, twin tower 911, picture september11 tower twin, 9 11 twin tower, new york city twin tower, wtc twin tower, nyc twin tower, 9/11 picture tower twin, poem tower twin, burning tower twin, 11 picture september tower twin, new york twin tower picture, 20 bill dollar tower twin, bill dollar tower twenty twin, art clip tower twin, construction tower twin, jumpers tower twin, twin tower building, 11 2001 september tower twin, attack terrorist tower twin, from jumping people tower twin, eagle tower twin, devil face tower twin, fire picture tower twin, drawing tower twin, collapsing picture tower twin, fact tower twin, attack photo tower twin, background tower twin, inside tower twin, movie tower twin, 11th september tower twin, devil tower twin, info tower twin, 9/11 photo sept 11 twin tower, height tower twin, light memorial tower twin, 01 11 9 tower twin, jumping people tower twin, in new picture tower twin york, clipart tower twin, story tower twin, crash plane tower twin, twin tower pin, the twin tower, 20 bill tower twin, attack before picture tower twin, 11 9 picture tower twin, nyc picture tower twin, face in smoke tower twin, death tower twin, art tower twin, twin tower in new york city,