World Trade Center

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Coordinates: 40°42′42″N, 74°00′45″W

World Trade Center
World Trade Center was the world's tallest building from 1972 to 1973.†
Preceded by	Empire State Building
Surpassed by	Sears Tower
Information
Location	New York City, New York, USA (Lower Manhattan)
Status	Destroyed
Constructed	1966-1973
Destroyed	September 11, 2001 ("9/11")
Height
Antenna/Spire	1,727 ft (526.3 m) [1]
Roof	1,368 ft (417.0 m)
Top floor	1,355 ft (413.0 m)
Technical Details
Floor count	110
Floor area	8.6 million sq ft 800,000 m² (1 & 2)
Elevator count	198 (1 & 2)
Companies
Architect	Minoru Yamasaki, Emery Roth & Sons
Contractor	Tishman Realty & Construction Company
Owner	Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
†Fully habitable, self-supported, from main entrance to highest structural or architectural top; see world's tallest structures for other listings.

The World Trade Center in New York City (sometimes informally referred to as the WTC or the Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings, mostly designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki and developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It was initiated in 1960 by a Lower Manhattan Association created and chaired by David Rockefeller, who had the original idea of building the Center, with strong backing from the then New York governor, his brother, Nelson Rockefeller.^[1] Larry Silverstein held the most recent lease to the complex, the Port Authority having leased it to him in July of 2001.^[2] 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.^[3]

Best known for its iconic 110-story twin towers, the World Trade Center was beset by a fire on February 13, 1975 and a bombing on February 26, 1993. All of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks, including 1 WTC, 2 WTC (North and South Towers) and 7 WTC which collapsed; 3 WTC (Marriott Hotel) was crushed by the collapses of 1 WTC and 2 WTC; and 4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC were damaged beyond repair and later demolished. In addition, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church (not part of the complex) was destroyed by the collapse of 2 WTC.

Contents 1 Planning and construction 1.1 Structural design 1.1.1 Perimeter columns 1.1.2 Core 1.1.3 Floor system 1.1.4 Hat trusses 1.1.5 Design innovations 1.2 Construction 1.3 Engineers and contractors Involved 1.4 Architectural criticism 2 The complex 2.1 The Twin Towers 2.2 Observation deck and Windows on the World 2.3 The other buildings 3 Life of the World Trade Center 3.1 February 13, 1975 fire 3.2 Bombing of February 26, 1993 3.3 Lease 3.4 September 11, 2001 4 Rebuilding the World Trade Center 5 Film and media 6 See also 7 References 8 External links 8.1 Webcams

[edit] Planning and construction

Main article: Design and construction of the World Trade Center

During the post-World War II period, the United States thrived economically, with increasing international trade. At the time, economic growth in New York City was concentrated in Midtown Manhattan, with Lower Manhattan left out. To help stimulate urban renewal, David Rockefeller, with support from his brother, New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, suggested that the Port Authority should build a "world trade center" in Lower Manhattan.^[4]

Initial plans, made public in 1961, identified a site along the East River for the World Trade Center.^[4] Objections to the plan came from New Jersey Governor Robert B. Meyner, who resented that New York would be getting this $335 million project.^[4] Meanwhile, New Jersey's Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M) was facing bankruptcy. Port Authority executive director, Austin J. Tobin agreed to take over control of the H&M Railroad, in exchange for support from New Jersey for the World Trade Center project.^[4] With this acquisition, the Port Authority would obtain the Hudson Terminal, and decrepit buildings located above the terminal in Lower Manhattan.^[4] The Port Authority decided to demolish these buildings, and use this site along the Hudson River for the World Trade Center.^[4] The complex towers were designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki with Antonio Brittiochi and Emery Roth & Sons as associate architects. The World Trade Center was one of the most striking American implementations of the architectural ethic of Le Corbusier, as well as the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies.

[edit] Structural design

The World Trade Center included many structural engineering innovations in skyscraper design and construction. The towers were designed as framed tube structures, with columns grouped around the perimeter and within the core. The perimeter columns supported virtually all lateral loads, such as wind loads, and shared the gravity loads with the core columns.^[5] All columns were founded on bedrock, which unlike Midtown Manhattan, where the bedrock is shallow, is at 65 feet (20m) below the surface.

[edit] Perimeter columns

Above the seventh floor there were 59 perimeter columns along each face of the building. The perimeter columns had a square cross section, 14 inches on a side (36 cm), and were constructed of welded steel plate.^[5] The thickness of the plates and grade of steel were varied over the height of the tower, ranging from 36 ksi to 100 ksi, with the steel strength and plate thickness decreasing with height.^[5] The perimeter columns supported virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads and shared the gravity loads with the core columns. The perimeter structure was constructed with extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces, which consisted of three columns, three stories tall, connected together by spandrel plates. The spandrel plates were welded to the columns at the fabrication shop. The modular pieces were typically 52 inches (1.3 m) deep, and extended for two full floors and half of two more floors.^[5] Adjacent modules were bolted together, with the splices occurring at mid-span of the columns and spandrels. The spandrel plates were located at each floor, and served to transmit shear flow between columns, thus allowing them to work together in resisting lateral loads. The joints between modules were staggered vertically, so the column splices between adjacent modules were not at the same floor.^[5]

[edit] Core

The building's core housed the elevator and utility shafts, restrooms, three stairwells, and other support spaces. The core in 1 WTC was oriented with the long axis east to west, while that of 2 WTC was oriented north to south. The core of each tower was a rectangular area 87 by 135 feet (27 by 41 m) and contained 47 steel columns running from the bedrock to the top of the tower.^[5] The columns tapered with height, and consisted of welded box-sections at lower floors and rolled wide-flange sections at upper floors. All of the elevators and stairwells were located in the core.

[edit] Floor system

The large, column-free space between the perimeter and core was bridged by pre-fabricated floor trusses. The floors supported their own weight, as well as live loads, provided lateral stability to the exterior walls, and distributed wind loads among the exterior walls. The floors consisted of 4 inch (10 cm) thick lightweight concrete slabs laid on a fluted steel deck. A grid of lightweight bridging trusses and main trusses supported the floors. The trusses had a span of 60 feet (18.2 m) in the long-span areas and 35 feet (11.0 m) in the short span area.^[5] The trusses connected to the perimeter at alternate columns, and were therefore on 6 foot 8 inch (2.03 m) centers. The top chords of the trusses were bolted to seats welded to the spandrels on the exterior side and a channel welded to the core columns on the interior side. The floors were connected to the perimeter spandel plates with vicsoelastic dampers, which helped reduce the amount of sway felt by building occupants. The trusses supported a 4-inch-thick (10 cm) lightweight concrete floor slab, with shear connections for composite action.^[5]

[edit] Hat trusses

Hat trusses (or "outrigger truss") located from the 107th floor to the top of the buildings were designed to support a tall communications antenna on top of each building.^[5] Though, only WTC1 (north tower) actually had an antenna. The truss system consisted of six trusses along the long axis of core and four along the short axis. This truss system allowed some load redistribution between the perimeter and core columns and supported the transmission tower.

[edit] Design innovations

To solve the problem of wind sway or vibration in the construction of the towers, chief engineer Leslie Robertson took a then unusual approach — instead of bracing the buildings corner-to-corner or using internal walls, the towers were essentially hollow steel tubes surrounding a strong central core. The 208 feet (63.4 m) wide facade was, in effect, a prefabricated steel lattice, with columns on 39 inch (100 cm) centers acting as wind bracing to resist all overturning forces; the central core took the majority of the gravity loads of the building. A very light, economical structure was built by keeping the wind bracing in the most efficient area, the outside surface of the building, thus not transferring the forces through the floor membrane to the core, as in most curtain-wall structures. The core supported the weight of the entire building and the outer shell containing 240 vertical steel columns called Vierendeel trusses around the outside of the building, which were bound to each other using ordinary steel trusses. In addition, 10,000 dampers were included in the structure. With a strong shell and core such as this, the exterior walls could be simply light steel and concrete. With the massive core and lightweight shell for structural integrity, Robertson created a tower that was extremely light for its size. This method of construction also meant that the twin towers had high load-bearing walls.

The buildings were also the second supertall buildings to use sky lobbies, after the John Hancock Center in Chicago.^[6] Skylobbies are floors where commuters can switch from an express elevator that goes only to the sky lobbies to a local elevator that goes to each floor in a section. The local elevators were stacked on top of each other, within the same elevator shaft. Located on the 44th and 78th floors of each tower, the sky lobbies enabled the elevators to be used efficiently while taking up a minimum of valuable office space.^[7] Altogether, the World Trade Center had 95 express and local elevators.^[8] This system was inspired by the New York City Subway system, whose lines include local stations where local trains stop and express stations where all trains stop.^[9]

The site of the World Trade Center was located on landfill, with the bedrock located 65 feet below.^[10] In order to construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build the "bathtub", with the slurry wall along the West Street side of the site, which serves the purpose of keeping water from the Hudson River out. The slurry method involves digging a trench, and as excavation proceeds, filling the space with a "slurry" mixture, comprised of bentonite which plugs holes and keeps water out. When the trench was dug out, a steel cage was inserted, with concrete poured in, forcing the "slurry" out. The "slurry" method was devised by Port Authority chief engineer, John M. Kyle, Jr.

[edit] Construction

Groundbreaking for the construction of the World Trade Center was on August 5, 1966.^[11] The construction was under the auspices of the semi-autonomous Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Thirteen square blocks of low rise buildings in Radio Row, some of which pre-dated the American Civil War, were razed to clear the site for construction.

The excavation of the foundations of the WTC complex, known as the Bathtub, was particularly complicated since there were two subway tubes close by needing protection without service interruption. A six-level basement was built in the foundations. The excavation of about 1 million cubic yards (760,000 m³) of earth and rock created a $90 million real estate asset for the project owner, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which helped offset the enormous loss in revenues which came from the tax breaks given to the Trade Center itself. The soil was used to create 23 acres (93,000 m²) of landfill in the Hudson River next to the World Trade Center site, which became the site of Battery Park City (still under development).

In 1970, construction was completed on One World Trade Center, with its first tenants moving into the building in December, 1970. Tenants first moved into Two World Trade Center in January 1972.^[12] When the World Trade Center twin towers were completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had reached $900 million.^[13] The ribbon-cutting ceremony was on April 4, 1973.^[14]

[edit] Engineers and contractors Involved

Guy F. Tozzoli, Director, World Trade Department, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

Rino M. Monti, Chief Engineer

Architects: Minoru Yamasaki & Associates, Troy, Michigan; Emery Roth & Sons, New York

Structural Engineers: Skilling, Helle, Christiansen, Robertson, New York

Foundation Engineers: Port Authority of New York and New Jersey-Engineering Department

Electrical Engineers: Joseph R. Loring & Associates, New York

Mechanical Engineers: Jaros, Baum & Bolles, New York

General Contractor: Tishman Realty & Construction Company, New York

[edit] Architectural criticism

Although the towers became an undeniable icon of New York City, they were not without flaws and were handicapped in many ways. Initially conceived, (as the name suggests) as a complex dedicated to companies and organizations directly taking part in "world trade," they at first failed to attract the expected clientele. During the early years, various governmental organizations became key tenants of the World Trade Center, including the State of New York. It was not until the 1980s that the city's perilous financial state eased, after which an increasing number of private companies — mostly financial firms tied to Wall Street — became tenants.

Moreover, the trade center's "superblock", which replaced a more traditional, dense neighborhood, was regarded by some critics as an inhospitable environment that disrupted the complicated traffic network typical of Manhattan. For example, in his book The Pentagon of Power, the technical historian Lewis Mumford denounced the center as an "example of the purposeless giantism and technological exhibitionism that are now eviscerating the living tissue of every great city." On the other hand, Mr. Yamasaki saw the expanse as a focal point of serenity amidst the chaos of the city. The twin tower's narrow office windows, only 18 inches wide, were also disliked by many for impairing the view from the buildings.^[15] This design element reflected on Yamasaki's fear of heights and desire to make building occupants secure with narrow windows.^[15]

For many years, the immense Austin J. Tobin Plaza was unpopular, but in later years it became a center for outdoor concerts and other activities. In 1999, the outdoor plaza re-opened after undergoing $12 million renovations, which involved replacing marble pavers with gray and pink granite stones, adding new benches, planters, new restaurants and food kiosks, and outdoor dining areas.^[16]

[edit] The complex

[edit] The Twin Towers

Ultimately the complex came to consist of seven buildings, but its most notable features were the main twin towers. Each of the WTC towers had 110 stories. 1 WTC (the North Tower, which featured a massive 360 foot high TV antenna added in 1978) stood 1,368 feet (417 m) high,^[17] and 2 WTC (the South Tower, which contained the observation deck) was 1,362 feet (415 m) high.^[17] The length and breadth of the towers were 208 feet (63.4 m) x 208 feet (63.4 m). Although only Tower 1 featured an antenna, the structure of each building was designed to carry a broadcast mast, and in the basement of the complex, The Mall at the World Trade Center Manhattan's largest mall until 9-11.

When completed in 1972, 1 WTC became the tallest building on Earth, unseating the Empire State Building after a 40 year reign. 2 WTC became the second tallest building in the world when completed in 1973. The difference in height between the two towers was because of a Port Authority request to have two floors, the 43rd and the 67th, in 1 WTC raised, the lower of the taller floors being a cafeteria for PANY workers. 2 WTC did not need these facilities, so it remained 1,362 feet. Regardless, the WTC towers held the height record only briefly. As the building neared completion in 1973, work had already begun on Chicago's Sears Tower, which ultimately reached 1,450 feet (442 m).^[18] With the World Trade Center's destruction, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in New York, after spending almost 30 years as the third-tallest in the city.

The towers' sheer size was the subject of a joke during a press conference unveiling the landmarks. Minoru Yamasaki was asked: "Why two 110-story buildings? Why not one 220-story building?" His response was: "I didn't want to lose the human scale". Another popular joke among New York urbanites that died out late in the 1970s from overtelling was that the towers looked like the boxes the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building came in.

Of the 110 stories, eight were set aside for technical services (mechanical floors) Level B6/B5, Floors 7/8, 41/42, 75/76 and 108/109, in four two-floor areas evenly spread up the building. All the remaining floors were free for open-plan offices. Each floor of the towers had 40,000 square feet of space for occupancy.^[8] Each tower had 3.8 million square feet (350,000 m²) of office space, which provided ample room for companies to set up shop. Altogether the entire complex of seven buildings had 11.2 million square feet (1.04 km²) of space.

During the 1990s, approximately 500 companies had offices in the complex, including many financial companies such as Morgan Stanley, Aon Corporation, Salomon Brothers, as well as the Port Authority itself. Electrical service to the towers was supplied by Consolidated Edison (ConEd) at 13,800 volts. This service passed through the World Trade Center Primary Distribution Center (PDC) and sent up through the core of the building to electrical substations located on the mechanical floors. The substations "stepped" the 13,800 primary voltage down to 480/277 volt secondary power and further to 120/208 volt general power and lighting service. The complex also was served by emergency generators located in the sublevels of the towers and on the roof of 5 WTC. ^[19][20]

The 110th Floor of 1 WTC (North Tower) housed commercial and public service radio & television transmission equipment. The roof of 1 WTC contained a vast array of transmission antennas including the center antenna mast rebuilt in 1999 by Dielectric Inc. to accommodate DTV. The mast contained the television signals for almost all NYC television broadcasters: WCBS-TV 2, WNBC-TV 4, WNYW 5, WABC-TV 7, WWOR-TV 9 Secaucus, WPIX-TV 11, WNET 13 Newark, WPXN-TV 31, and WNJU 68. It also had four NYC FM broadcasters on it as well: WPAT-FM 93.1, WNYC 93.9, WKCR 89.9, and WKTU 103.5.^[21] Access to the roof was controlled from the WTC Operations Control Center (OCC) located in the B1 level of 2 WTC.

The World Trade Center complex was protected by an extensive fire detection and voice evacuation paging system upgraded after the 1993 bombing. Fire Command Stations, staffed by Fire Safety Directors were located in the lobbies of each building and the Operations Control Center (OCC) monitored these systems. An extensive study of the performance of World Trade Center Fire Protection Systems was conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) following 9/11/2001.^[22]

[edit] Observation deck and Windows on the World

Although the majority of space in the WTC complex was off-limits to the general public, 2 WTC (South Tower) featured a public observation area aptly named "Top Of The World." When visiting the observation deck, visitors would first pass through security checks added after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Next, visitors were whisked to the 107th floor indoor observatory and greeted with a 360 degree view of the New York City skyline, and exhibitions including a three-dimensional scale model of Manhattan, and a simulated helicopter ride around the city. Weather-permitting, visitors could take two short escalator rides up from the 107th floor and visit what was the world's highest outdoor viewing platform. At a height of 1,377 feet (420 m), visitors were able to take in a view of the North Tower and New York City unlike any other. On a clear day, it was claimed that visitors could see up to 45 miles (72 km) in any given direction. An anti-suicide fence was placed on the roof itself, with the viewing platform set back and elevated above it, requiring only an ordinary railing and leaving the view unobstructed.

The North Tower (1 WTC) had a restaurant on the 107th floor called Windows on the World, which was an elegant restaurant known as a place for big celebrations, such as weddings. In its last full year of operation, 2000, Windows on the World reported revenues of $37.5 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States.

[edit] The other buildings

Five smaller buildings stood around the 16 acre (65,000 m²) block. One was the 22-floor Vista Hotel (3 WTC), later a Marriott Hotel, at the southwest corner of the site, that was crushed between the two towers. Three low-rise buildings (4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC) in the same hollow tube design as the towers also stood around the plaza. 6 World Trade Center, at the north west corner, housed the United States Customs Service and the U.S. Commodities Exchange. 5 World Trade Center was located at the northeast corner, above the PATH station, and 4 World Trade Center was at the southeast corner. In 1987, a 46-floor office building called 7 WTC was built north of the block. Beneath the World Trade Center complex was an underground shopping mall, which in turn had connections to various mass transit facilities, including the New York City subway system and the Port Authority's own PATH trains connecting Manhattan to Jersey City.

One of the world's largest gold depositories was stored underneath the World Trade Center, owned by a group of commercial banks. The 1993 bomb detonated close to the vault, but it withstood the explosion, as did the towers. Seven weeks after the September 11th attacks, $230 million in precious metals were removed from basement vaults of 4 WTC, which included 3,800 100-Troy-ounce registered gold bars and 30,000 1,000-ounce silver bars.^[23]

[edit] Life of the World Trade Center

On any given day, approximately 50,000 people worked in the towers,^[8] with another 200,000 passing through as visitors. The complex was so large that it had its own zip code, 10048. The towers offered spectacular views from the observation deck (located on top of the South Tower) and the Windows on the World restaurant (located on top of the North Tower). The trade center had its many admirers, particularly visitors. For those who deemed it cold and sterile, there were just as many who appreciated its sheer grandeur; some even took advantage of it. French high wire acrobatic performer Philippe Petit walked between the towers on a tightrope in 1974, and Brooklyn toymaker George Willig scaled the south tower in 1977. The Twin Towers became known worldwide, appearing in movies, TV shows, postcards, merchandise, magazines and much more. The twin towers became a New York icon, such as the Empire State Building, or Statue of Liberty.

[edit] February 13, 1975 fire

On February 13, 1975, the WTC North Tower was beset by a fire, which "burned at temperatures in excess of 700°C (1,292°F) for over three hours and spread over some 65 percent of the 11th floor, including the core, caused no serious structural damage to the steel structure. In particular, no trusses needed to be replaced".^[24]

[edit] Bombing of February 26, 1993

Main article: World Trade Center bombing

On February 26, 1993 at 12:17 PM, a Ryder truck filled with 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of explosives was planted by Ramzi Yousef and detonated in the underground garage of the North Tower, opening a 100 foot (30 m) hole through 5 sublevels of concrete leaving 50,000 workers and visitors gasping for air in the shafts of the 110 story towers.

Many people inside the North Tower were forced to walk down darkened stairwells which contained no emergency lighting, some taking two hours or more to reach safety. As the Port Authority was a bi-state agency, the towers were exempt from New York City building codes. Subsequent to the bombing The Port Authority installed emergency lighting in the stairwells. It is believed that this lighting saved many lives during the events of September 11, 2001.

In 1997 and 1998, six Islamist extremists were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the bombing. According to a presiding judge, the conspirators' chief aim at the time of the attack was to de-stabilize the north tower and send it crashing into the south tower, toppling both landmarks.

As a memorial to the victims of the bombing of the tower, a reflecting pool was installed with the names of those who had been killed in the blast. Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, relief workers found a single fractured piece of this fountain; to date it is the only remaining part of the 1993 memorial that survived the collapse of the towers.

[edit] Lease

In 1998, plans were approved by the Port Authority to privatize the World Trade Center.^[25] In 2001, the Port Authority sought to lease the World Trade Center to a private entity. Bids for the lease came from Vornado Realty Trust, a joint bid between Brookfield Properties and Boston Properties,^[26] and a joint bid by Silverstein Properties and The Westfield Group.^[27] By privatizing the World Trade Center, it would be added to the city's tax rolls.^[27] The lease was also intended to raise funds for other Port Authority projects.^[28] On February 15, 2001, the Port Authority announced that Vornado Trust Realty had won the lease for the World Trade Center, paying $3.25 billion for the 99-year lease.^[29] Silverstein was outbid by $50 million by Vornado Realty. However, Vornado later withdrew and Silverstein's bid for the lease to the World Trade Center was accepted on July 24, 2001. The land was then privately owned.

[edit] September 11, 2001

Main articles: September 11, 2001 attacks and Collapse of the World Trade Center

On September 11, 2001 at 8:46 a.m., Al Qaeda suicide hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower. ^[30][31] Seventeen minutes later, 9:03 a.m., a second team of hijackers crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower,^[31][32] which collapsed at 9:59 a.m. At 10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed. At 5:20 p.m., 7 World Trade Center collapsed. The four remaining buildings in the WTC plaza sustained heavy damage from debris, and were ultimately demolished.

At the time of the incident, media reports suggested that tens of thousands might have been killed in the massacre, as on any given day upwards of 100,000 people could be inside the towers. Ultimately, 2,749 death certificates were filed relating to the 9/11 attacks, as of February 2005. Of these, 1,588 (58%) were forensically identified from recovered physical remains.

Morgan Stanley was the largest tenant in the World Trade Center, with approximately 2,500 employees in the South Tower and 1,000 in the North Tower.^[33]

For the following 8½ months, the World Trade Center site cleanup and recovery continued 24 hours a day and involved thousands of workers. The massive pile of debris smoked and smoldered for 99 days.

[edit] Rebuilding the World Trade Center

This article or section contains information about expected future buildings or structures. It is likely to contain information of a speculative nature, and the content may change as building construction begins and new information becomes available.

Main article: World Trade Center site

New World Trade Center
Towers
Freedom Tower (Tower 1)
200 Greenwich Street (Tower 2)
175 Greenwich Street (Tower 3)
150 Greenwich Street (Tower 4)
Tower 5
7 World Trade Center
Memorial and Museum
Reflecting Absence (Memorial)
International Freedom Center
Drawing Center
Transit
Transportation Hub

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency charged with coordinating the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site, selected the master plan, Memory Foundations by Daniel Libeskind,^[34] which includes the 1776 ft (541 m) Freedom Tower. The height of 1,776 feet (541 m) was chosen as a reference to the year of American independence. A new 7 World Trade Center office building, which was not part of the site master plan, officially opened on May 23, 2006.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation sponsored an international design competition for the World Trade Center Memorial in spring 2003. The winning design, Michael Arad and Peter Walker's Reflecting Absence, was chosen in January 2004.

The World Trade Center name will continue to be used as name of the site, as will the New York City Subway and PATH train stations that serve the complex. A temporary PATH station, largely following the layout of the original, is the first part of the complex to have re-opened.

On November 22, 2004, New York Governor George Pataki named the living former presidents as honorary members of the board rebuilding the World Trade Center.

On May 18, 2005, Donald Trump, long-time opponent of the Freedom Tower, proposed the Twin Towers II plan to rebuild the Twin Towers with various safety, structural, and technological improvements. It is said most New Yorkers prefer this plan over the current plan.

On June 29, 2005, a redesigned Freedom Tower was unveiled which more closely resembled the character of the fallen towers. The new design also boasted several safety improvements over previous proposals.

On December 15, 2005, Sir Norman Foster was announced as the architect who will design the second of five new office towers planned for the site.

On March 13, 2006 workers arrived at the World Trade Center site to remove remaining debris and start surveying work. This marks the official start of construction of the WTC Memorial and Museum.^[35]

In April 2006, a tentative agreement was reached by the owner of the site, The Port Authority, and private developer Larry Silverstein. The main elements of that agreement are that Silverstein ceded rights to develop the Freedom Tower and Tower Five in exchange for financing with Liberty Bonds for Tower Two, Three, and Four which are considered to be the most marketable properties of the site. On April 27, 2006, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Freedom Tower.^[36]

In May 2006, architects Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki were announced as the architects for Towers Three and Four, respectively.

The final designs for Towers Two, Three and Four were unveiled on September 7, 2006. Tower Two, or 200 Greenwich Street, will have a roof height of 1,254 feet and a 85-foot tripod spire. Tower Three, or 175 Greenwich Street will have a roof height of 1,155 feet and an antennae height of 1,255 feet. Tower Four, or 150 Greenwich Street, will have an overall height of 946 feet.^[37]

As of late 2006, work at the World Trade Center site continued. Foundation work has started on the Freedom Tower, Calatrava Hub, and the memorials. By the end of 2006, the site was expected to look like the massive construction project that built the previous WTC.

[edit] Film and media

The World Trade Center has been featured in numerous films, as well as appearing in many television shows, cartoons, comic books, computer/video games and music videos. The towers were amongst the most famous skyscrapers of the late 20th Century. An episode of The Simpsons featured Homer in NYC needing a bathroom, finding the only bathroom available was at the top of the WTC. He climbed one tower to discover that the bathroom was closed and had to climb the other. The pilot episode of The Lone Gunmen, aired in March 2001, featured a thwarted attempt to crash an airplane into the World Trade Center. A dance scene in Godspell takes place on top of one tower, portrayed on the original record album cover. The Twin Towers were partially featured in the 1983 movie Trading Places where Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd go into 4 World Trade center. The Twin Towers were seen in the 1981 movie Escape from New York where Kurt Russell is on top of one of the towers. In the 1976 remake of King Kong, King Kong climbs one of the towers of the World Trade Center. After being attacked by men with flame throwers whilst standing on the roof of the South Tower, Kong flees by leaping across to the North Tower. A photograph of this sequence appears on the original movie album cover. The twin towers are also seen in the Steven Spielberg film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Although the towers were destroyed less than 3 months after the film's release, they were not digitally removed for the DVD versions. The original preview trailer for the 2002 film Spider-Man featured the title character capturing a group of bank robbers fleeing in a helicopter by creating a large web between the Twin Towers; this trailer, along with posters featuring the towers reflected in the eyepiece of Spider-Man's mask, was pulled from distribution following the 9/11 attacks, and the scene did not appear in the finished film. The World Trade Center also has several scenes in the Emmy-Award Inside 9/11 in 2005. Limp Bizkit's video for Rollin features the band performing at the top of one of the towers, and there is a zoom-out at the end of the video. The towers have also appeared in many filler-shots in Friends, which have since been edited-out. The Twin Towers were also featured in various music videos and album artworks, including Oasis' Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, and Supertramp's Breakfast in America.

The events surrounding September 11 are portrayed in the 2002 collective project 11'9"01 September 11, in the Discovery Channel's 2005 film, The Flight that Fought Back, and in the History Channel's I Missed Flight 93, A&E Network's Flight 93, Oliver Stone's World Trade Center, Paul Greengrass' United 93, which were released in 2006. Images of the clean-up process at Ground Zero were taken over nine months by photographer Joel Meyerowitz following 9/11, and have been compiled in Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive, published by Phaidon Press in 2006.

[edit] See also

David Rockefeller Nelson Rockefeller Rockefeller family Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Robert Moses Minoru Yamasaki 9/11 (radio communications) 50 tallest buildings in the U.S. Buildings and architecture of New York City Collapse of the World Trade Center

One World Trade Center tenants Two World Trade Center tenants Four World Trade Center tenants Five World Trade Center tenants Seven World Trade Center tenants

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• World Trade Center official site
• Archived version of Top Of The World Trade Center Observatories website
• [2]
• World Trade Center Memorial Foundation
• Skyscraper Museum WTC Dossier
• Emporis — Special Coverage of the World Trade Center in New York City
• Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
• LowerManhattan.Info Official site for Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center.
• The Mega WTC Picture Thread at Skyscraper City
• Satellite view of World Trade Center site at WikiMapia
• Building the World Trade Center, a 1983 documentary about the construction of the WTC by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey-from Google Video
• September 11th Remembered
• Video of cornerstone laying ceremony for the Freedom Tower on July 4, 2004
• DMOZ directory
• Construction works in January 2007

[edit] Webcams

• Project Rebirth
• World Trade Center Site / Ground Zero Webcams

Preceded by Empire State Building

Tallest Building in New York City 1973—2001

Succeeded by Empire State Building

v • d • e Supertall skyscrapers
Current:	Aon Center (Chicago) • AT&T Corporate Center • Baiyoke Tower II • Bank of America Plaza • Bank of China Tower • Burj al-Arab • Central Plaza • Chrysler Building • CITIC Plaza • Emirates Office Tower • Emirates Towers Hotel • Empire State Building • Eureka Tower • First Canadian Place • International Finance Centre • JPMorgan Chase Tower • Jin Mao Building • John Hancock Center • Kingdom Centre • Kuala Lumpur Tower • Menara Telekom • Nina Tower I • Petronas Twin Towers • Q1 • Sears Tower • Shimao International Plaza • Shun Hing Square • Taipei 101 • The Center • Tuntex Sky Tower • Two Prudential Plaza • U.S. Bank Tower
Under construction:	23 Marina • Abraj Al Bait Towers • Ahmed Abdul Rahim Al Attar Tower • Airlangga Residences • Al Durrah Tower II • Al Hamra Tower • Al Rajhi Tower • Al Yaquob Tower • Almas Tower • Bank of America Tower • Burj Dubai • Burj Dubai Lake Hotel & Serviced Apartments • Busan Lotte Tower • Chicago Spire • City Hall and City Duma • Federation Tower • Freedom Tower (World Trade Center Tower 1) • The Index • Ice Tower • Guangzhou Twin Towers West Tower • Dubai Towers Doha • Sky Tower Dubai • Elite Residence • JW Marriott International Finance Centre • Ocean One • Square Capital Tower • International Commerce Centre • Jakarta Tower • Mercury City Tower • New York Times Building • Northeast Asia Trade Tower • Ocean Heights 1 • Ocean Heights 2 • Marina 101 • One Island East • Parcel 12 • Princess Tower • Rose Rotana Suites • Shanghai World Financial Center • The Torch • Trans National Place • Trump International Hotel and Tower (Chicago) • Trump International Hotel and Tower (Toronto) • Waterview Tower • Tianjin International Trade Centre • Mag 218 Tower • Torre Gran Costanera • China World Trade Center Tower 3 • Pearl River Tower • Shenzhen Nikko Tower • Wenzhou World Trade Center • Gate of Kuwait • Doha Sport City Tower • Faros del Panamá
In development:
Former:	World Trade Center
Construction suspended:	Ryugyong Hotel • Dalian International Trade Center • Xiamen Post & Telecommunications Building • Najd Tower • 868 Towers Offices and Hotel • Tianlong Hotel • BDNI Center 1 • Infinity Tower • Marina Gardens • Skycity • Plaza Rakyat