Final design for WTC chosen.
 

http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,79709,00.html

NEW YORK — A cluster of sloping, angular buildings with a 1,776-foot spire that would be the tallest in the world was chosen Wednesday as the blueprint to redevelop the World Trade Center site

Architect Daniel Libeskind's design beat a plan by an international design team known as THINK, which envisioned two 1,665-foot latticework towers straddling the footprints of the original towers, said a source familiar with the selection. An official announcement is expected Thursday.

The choice of the soaring design, which pays homage to the year America declared its independence, was made by a committee of representatives from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the offices of the governor and mayor.

Both Gov. George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg favored the Libeskind plan, an important factor in the decision, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.


http://foxnews.com/images/80721/0_21..._libeskind.jpg

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/us/...oncept.2.1.jpg

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/us/...oncept.2.2.jpg

http://i.cnn.net/cnn/interactive/us/...oncept.2.3.jpg

http://www.newyorkled.com/_WTC/2003-...kind-large.jpg

I liked the other design better.

But at least they are going to return the site to grandeur. I said from day one that they should either rebuild exactly the same complex again, or build them twice as tall!

I'm glad it'll be the tallest structure in the world - that's how it should be.

Hmmm....hope my company gets the toilet partition contract over there - I'll be making tons of money for months on end! I already know the company that has a 90% chance of getting the ductwork contract - biggest sheet-metal company on the east coast.

~HH

What's that green stuff inside the tallest one? I don't like the design much, it's too "futuristic"...it looks out of place IMO.

I am bit sceptical about the designs as well, because they look like a bunch of crystals sticking through the ground. What is up with those random slants, and cutaways. It will be one tough engineering feat!

Original WTC
 

It does look futuristic and out of place. I'm sure there will be opposers to the plan. I like it though, it's very striking and makes you want to look. I remember hearing about how New Yorkers hated the original WTC because they were too tall, too big, and just out of place. Over time, a place can grow on you and when it's gone, hits you hard like a ton of bricks.

They should have designed a giant hand giving the middle east the finger. The worlds biggest "fuck you"... with shopping!
Instead of the WTC, we could call it:
:wtf: World Trade Fuck-you!

Great, give the whole Middle East the finger, since they are obviously all terrorists. :rolleyes:

Hmmm.....like Superman's "fortress of solitiude" at the north pole? ;)

Obviously, the design will go through numerous changes before construction actually begins.

Funny - the idea that New Yorkers hated the WTC at first; I suppose some of that is true. If you watched any of the WTC specials on channels like Discovery, the area was not just empty space before the WTC - it was what was called "Radio Row"; filled with mostly elecronics merchants. A LOT of business were displaced by the WTC, and there were absolutely lots of opposition to such a complex downtown.

But the truth is, it was great for the area and the city as a whole. While it never really became a center for international trade, it did attract many large corporations. The WTC single-handedly turned downtown Manhattan into the world business center it still is today, including the construction of the World Financial Center buildings on land that was "created" by placing the earth excavated from the WTC site on the river-side of West Street. Not only was the WTC some of the most desired corporate real estate in the world, the "left-overs" from the excavation was used to make even more valuable real-estate.

I miss the WTC every day. It might sound corny or whatever - but it still hurts. I've spent years of my life working in Manhattan, and the WTC was the only structure that I just had to stare up at every time I passed by. Something about it was mesmerising - more so than any of the other famous buildings in the city, at least to me.

I, for one, can only hope that whatever comes to occupy the space will give me the same sense of awe.

~HH