World Trade Center site

The site before it was cleared. larger image

The World Trade Center site, also known as Ground Zero or the pit, is the large plot of land on which the World Trade Center complex of New York City stood until the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. The land is owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

A permanent memorial will be part of the site.

Six land-use plans, created under Port Authority guidelines, were released in July 2002 to great scorn. The guidelines demanded that all commercial space destroyed had to be replaced, greatly limiting the possible designs. The designs met with near-universal disapproval, forcing the government to restart the design process nearly from scratch.

A popular element from the designs was an open parkway connecting the site to the South Port ferry, creating a sightline to the Statue of Liberty.

Seven new designs were presented and winnowed to two candidates, one from Studio Daniel Libeskind, and one from the Think architectural group, led by Rafael Viñoly[?], Shigeru Ban[?], Frederic Schwartz[?], and Ken Smith.

Libeskind's proposal was more widely accepted by the public, and Michael Bloomberg and George Pataki preferred both the design and Libeskind's approach to dealing with the necessities of the project to the Think group. The Think proposal was championed by The New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp[?].

On February 26, 2003, Studio Daniel Libeskind's design was announced as the winning design. The design includes an office building and a Wedge of Light which will honor the victims of the terrorist attacks by allowing sunlight into the footprint of the towers between 8:46AM and 10:28AM EST every September 11. Also the footprint of the towers will be largely preserved as a sunken pit.

The Libeskind proposal includes a 541 m - 1776-foot high tower. The chosen height in feet is a reference to 1776, the traditional founding date of the United States.

External links and references

• From Political Calculation, a Sweeping Vision of Ground Zero (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/03/nyregion/03REBU.html), The New York Times, March 3, 2003
• Libeskind Design Chosen for Rebuilding at Ground Zero (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/27/nyregion/27REBU.html), The New York Times, February 27, 2003
• Libeskind Plan Chosen for WTC Site (http://apnews.excite.com/article/20030227/D7PEPU9O0.html), AP News
• Panel Makes Unexpected Choice for World Trade Center Site (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/nyregion/26REBU.html), The New York Times, February 26, 2003
• CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: Designers' Dreams, Tempered by Reality (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/26/arts/design/26NOTE.html), The New York Times, February 26, 2003
• Two Finalists Are Selected for the Void at Ground Zero (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/05/nyregion/05REBU.html), The New York Times, February 5, 2003
• Trade Center Developer Is Portrayed in Court as Calculating (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/05/nyregion/05SILV.html), The New York Times, February 5, 2003
• DESIGN REVIEW: A Goal for Ground Zero: Finding an Urban Poetry (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/28/arts/design/28DESI.html), The New York Times, January 28, 2003
• AN APPRAISAL: Rediscovering and Celebrating the Vertical Life (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/19/nyregion/19APPR.html), The New York Times, December 19, 2002
• City Proposes Swapping Land to Control Trade Center Site (http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/nyregion/03REBU.html), The New York Times, August 3, 2002