New plans revealed for trade center site

Real Estate Weekly, Dec 25, 2002 by Elaine Misonzhnik

On Dec. 18 the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation unveiled nine new plans for the site of the World Trade Center, in an attempt to overcome the lack of enthusiasm for the original six designs presented last July.

The new proposals, created by seven teams of internationally renowned architects and urban planners, limit the amount of commercial space at the site, maximize open public space, and attempt to mend New York's skyline with buildings equal in height or higher than the World Trade Center towers.

"We started the design process by defining a principle which would allow us to elevate the memory of those who died on Sept. 11 to become an inspiration for the future," noted Rafael Vinoly, a member of the collaborative group THINK. "We felt that the problem of doing this right has to do with the necessity to simultaneously remember, redevelop, and renew.

This sentiment was echoed throughout the presentation, with contestants saying that the hardest part of the process Was creating something both poignant and optimistic. The exception was the Memorial Square proposal, presented by Richard Meier and Partners, a plan that calls for seven separate memorial sites within the redevelopment area.

"The spirit of our design is one of remembrance," said Meier, as he displayed a rendering of six high-rise buildings all connected with each other by bridges described as Memorial Gardens. "We developed several memorial sites, including the footprints of the towers, the memorial shadows composed of a linear organization of trees, a floating memorial plaza on the river, and memorial chapels on top of each building. We regard the entire site as a memorial."

British architect Norman Foster, on the other hand, took a more futuristic approach to design, with two curved, skyscraper towers that would allow visitors to take a tram up to one of the highest viewing platforms in the world.

"For the memorial, we left untouched two voids -- the footprints of the original towers," Foster said. "They rise out in a 20-acre park around the edge of which we placed shops, cinemas, and the entrance to the transportation station below."

The proposals by Daniel Libeskind, United Architects, Peterson/Littenberg, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, displayed large skyscrapers as well, with an emphasis on recreating in some way the visual experience of the Twin Towers.

"We believe that this is not Houston or Dallas, but the Big Apple and we should restore its essence," noted Steven Peterson. "We designed two buildings that are deliberately set up as twin towers, but in a fashion that integrates them with the rest of the city -- they are aligned with the street grids of Manhattan and fit in with the surrounding architecture."

According to Peterson's plan, entitled the Urban Circle, the transportation hub would be placed between the two European-style spire towers, and a public garden in front would encompass the footprints of the original World Trade Center buildings.

United Architects, on the other hand, imagined something akin to a fort, with several high-rise buildings supporting each other to assure maximum safety for the project's centerpiece -- a 1,600- foot tower.

"We wanted to return pride to the site," said Greg Lynn, one of the group's members. "We planned an infrastructure sequence which would start on Greenwich Street, go down 75 feet down to allow people to look up, and then go up to the sky memorial."

Daniel Libeskind's idea for the site would reveal the bedrock walls of the World Trade Center and restore the skyline with a 1,776-foot spire that would house "Vertical Gardens."

"I meditated many days on the dichotomy of honoring the many deaths and, at the same time, preserving hope," Libeskind said. "And I felt that the bedrock foundations are the best expression of that. They withstood the trauma of the collapse and held the water back from the site."

As for THINK, the team prepared three proposals for the city's consideration -- the Sky Park, the Great Hall, and the World Cultural Center. The most striking of these (and the most reminiscent of the Twin Towers), would use two cylinder-shaped, "scaffolding" structures to house public institutions -- museums, theaters, and performance halls. According to the architects, such a project, a sort of a World Cultural Center, would serve as an "answer from the civilized world to the absurdity of evil."

"It's a theme that is a little bit extreme," noted Vinoly. "It would make a statement that the ownership of height does not belong to the business world alone."

In general, the new proposals were met with more approval than the predecessors, though officials were quick to point out that they would simply provide the framework for future development, not a final idea.

"The plans and designs that were unveiled today are very exciting and inspiring," said Manhattan borough president C. Virginia Fields. 'We now need to hear from the public and evaluate each scheme on what's best for the city, the neighborhood, and the memorial."