The World Trade Center was a complex of seven buildings, mostly designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki. The complex, located in the heart of New York City's downtown financial district, contained 13.4 million square feet (1.24 million m²) of office space, almost four percent of Manhattan's entire office inventory.
Best known for its iconic 110-story Twin Towers, the World Trade Center was the world's tallest building from 1972 to 1973. Constructed 1966-1973, there were 110 floors, and the spire reached 1,731.9 ft. All of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.
World Trade Center Tower 1 or Freedom Tower is the centerpiece building of the new World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. Construction for Freedom Tower began on April 27, 2006. As of December 19, 2006, the first steel columns are being installed at the building's foundation. Three other high rises are planned for the site along Greenwich Street, plus a residential tower that will surround theWorld Trade Center Memorial that is currently also under construction, and a museum.
The newest version of the future World Trade Center complex, unveiled on September 7, 2006, showing the Freedom Tower with its planned neighboring buildings (200 Greenwich Street, 175 Greenwich Street and 150 Greenwich Street)
The World Trade Center's North Tower featured an occupied floor at 1,355 feet
(413 m). Though not occupied by office space, Freedom Tower's observation
deck is set to be higher, at about 1,326 feet (415 m)
The Freedom Tower’s estimated completion is 2009, scheduled to open in 2011. The spire will reach 1,776 ft with 102 floors and 2,600,000 sq ft. The architectural firm for the Freedom Tower is Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
The Memorial - Reflecting Absence
Reflecting Absence will consist of two massive pools with waterfalls cascading down their sides, to serve as a powerful reminder of the Twin Towers and of the unprecedented loss of life from an attack on our soil.
The names of the 2,980 who were killed in the September 11th attacks in New York City,… 
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Reflecting Absence will consist of two massive pools with waterfalls cascading down their sides, to serve as a powerful reminder of the Twin Towers and of the unprecedented loss of life from an attack on our soil.
The names of the 2,980 who were killed in the September 11th attacks in New York City, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, and the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing, will be inscribed around the edge of the Memorial pools.
An eight-acre landscaped Memorial Plaza filled with more than 300 oak trees will create a contemplative space separate from the sights and sounds of the surrounding city. The design is unique in its use of ecological considerations which exceed sustainability standards.
Complementing the Memorial, a state-of-the art Memorial Museum will offer visitors an opportunity to deepen their experience at the site. Accessed through an entry pavilion designed by Snøhetta, the Museum will help facilitate an encounter with both the enormity of the loss and the triumph of the human spirit that are at the heart of 9/11.
Dynamic, interactive exhibitions including artifacts and personal effects; a resource center, contemplative areas, and innovative educational programming will convey stories of the victims and recount the experiences of suvivors, responders, area residents, and witnesses.
As visitors descend below the Memorial voids, they will reach bedrock, where they can approach the slurry wall and other remaining structures at the foundation of the site where the tallest buildings in the world, a triumph of human ingenuity and aspiration once stood.
The remaining eight acres of the site will contain the Freedom Tower, WTC Towers 2, 3, 4, retail development, the PATH Terminal and a Performing Arts Center. The site also includes significant underground infrastructure, including PATH tracks, a chiller plant and other mechanical spaces.
Landscaping
In November 2003 architect Michael Arad learned that his proposal for the World Trade Center Memorial was among the eight finalists selected by the jury. Through a series of meetings with the jury he was encouraged to rethink the park level of the memorial and to collaborate on this development wit… more
In November 2003 architect Michael Arad learned that his proposal for the World Trade Center Memorial was among the eight finalists selected by the jury. Through a series of meetings with the jury he was encouraged to rethink the park level of the memorial and to collaborate on this development with a landscape architect. Michael selected Peter Walker and Partners. Over the next several weeks the park was developed under review of the jury and on January 5, 2004, the revised scheme was selected as the winner.
The concept of the proposal contains two gigantic voids representing the destroyed twin towers. These 200-by-200-foot voids cut thirty feet into the site are lined with water cascades that fall into a pool below and then disappear into a deeper, smaller void. Ramped passageways lead the visitor down through darkness to the level of the pool, which is again visible through the cascade. Between the pool and the visitor is a low parapet wall randomly inscribed with the names of the victims of the 1993 and 2001 attacks.
Below the north pool a chamber at bedrock level honors the victims whose remains could not be identified. The room is open to the sky. Adjacent to the memorial underneath the park surface a museum displays artifacts of the World Trade Center destruction. The awesome scale of the voids recalls the terrible losses of September 11.
The memorial park is being designed to accomplish four main objectives:
- First, to deepen and therefore enlarge the visitor's perception of the level plane into which the voids are cut.
- Second, to participate in the procession that is essential to the visitor's experience of the memorial.
- Third, to gently separate the reverential aspect of the memorial from the busy daily life of the surrounding city.
- Fourth, to provide a quiet, beautiful, and human-scaled public open space for Lower Manhattan.
To accomplish these goals with a relatively small and irregular site, an abstract forest grove of dozens of deciduous trees with elongated trunks are planted irregularly along a series of east-west lines, which Arad has likened to an abacus.
This scheme establishes an ordering system from the inside of the park rather than at its edges. From the north and south a visitor will experience what seems to be a naturalistic forest. From the east and west the visitor will experience the lines of trees as a series of colonnades.
Above the trimmed-up elongated stems a canopy of leaves will provide a green rebirth in spring, welcome shade through the heat of the summer, and seasonal color in the fall. In the winter the sun will shine through a light tracery of bare branches. Through the stems of the trees the flat plane of the park is visible in its entirety. The density of the stems extend the apparent depth and size of the plane and at the same time soften the view of the immense buildings and the street life beyond. The trees stop at the voids, reinforcing the aspect of emptiness and loss.
The floor of the park is made of elongated pieces of stone (eight by thirty inches) and low plantations of grasses, mosses, and flowering ground covers. At points of entry to the park and the memorial and in the areas surrounding the voids, the paving would be almost entirely stone, providing smooth, safe, comfortable walking surfaces. Beyond the busy traffic areas, the stone paving would gradually open up, giving way to predominantly planted surfaces, soft to the eye and to the touch. The design provides many benches for the memorial visitors as well as people from the neighborhood. A small clearing in the grove creates a space for family gatherings. We intend that by reminding the visitor of the natural cycle of life, the park will add a dimension of hope to the memorial.
FAQ
How tall were the original World Trade Center towers?
1WTC was 1,368 feet or 417 meters tall.
2WTC was 1361.5 feet or 415 meters tall.
Both buildings had 110 floors.
How tall is the Empire State Building?
1,250 feet, or 381 meters tall. There are 102 floors in the building.
How tall will the new &ldquo… more
How tall were the original World Trade Center towers?
1WTC was 1,368 feet or 417 meters tall.
2WTC was 1361.5 feet or 415 meters tall.
Both buildings had 110 floors.
How tall is the Empire State Building?
1,250 feet, or 381 meters tall. There are 102 floors in the building.
How tall will the new “Freedom Tower” be when completed?
The building design is currently composed of three sections.
- Approximately 73 floors of the building will be devoted to the inhabitable portion of the building (retail and offices).
- An open lattice structure filled with energy generating windmills that are projected to provide 20% of the building’s power needs will be above the office portion of the tower. This portion of the building will rise to approximately 1,500 feet (457 meters).
- On top of the lattice structure will rise a spire (broadcast tower) 276 feet (84 meters) high.
- The entire structure will rise to approximately 1,776 feet (541 meters).
Who is the architect for the Freedom Tower?
- Contrary to popular opinion, the Freedom Tower was designed primarily by David Childs of the architectural firm Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), not Daniel Libeskind.
- Daniel Libeskind is the architect for the master plan for Ground Zero. His design for Ground Zero that was chosen in 2003 was for a conceptual design plan for the entire site, for the placement, location and massing of buildings, and for general design guidelines – not for specific building designs.
Who is building the Freedom Tower?
- Larry Silverstein, the developer who purchased the long-term lease to the World Trade Center before September 11, 2001 and still holds that lease, is responsible for financing the construction of the commercial office buildings at Ground Zero. His company, Silverstein Properties, is building the Freedom Tower as well as 7 World Trade Center. Four more towers to be built in the complex will be proposed as market demand necessitates construction of the new office buildings.
When will the Freedom Tower be completed?
- According to the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, construction of the Freedom Tower is currently scheduled to begin in August 2004 and is scheduled for completion sometime in 2007 -2008.
PATH Terminal
Who is the architect for the new World Trade Center PATH terminal?
- Santiago Calatrava with the Downtown Design Partnership.
Who is building the new PATH Terminal?
- The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is constructing the new terminal. They also operate the PATH, which is a subway line that travels to Newark, New Jersey.
Isn’t there already a working PATH station at the WTC?
- The collapse of the World Trade Center towers destroyed an important transportation link for New Jersey commuters who travel to Manhattan. Robert Davidson, chief architect of the Port Authority, designed and constructed the temporary station that is currently open at Ground Zero to provide service to New Jersey commuters as soon as possible. The new terminal design by Calatrava will replace the temporary station.
When will the new PATH terminal open?
- The permanent terminal is scheduled to be partially complete in 2006, with all pedestrian connections and transfers complete by 2009.
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