LMDC Releases New Proposed Designs for the World Trade Center Site

By Jason Feldman

A rendering of Foster and Partners design concept.

The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. has released the nine new designs for the World Trade Center site created by seven teams. The new plans reflect the public's call for such elements as a respectful memorial setting; a bold new skyline and an inspiring vision for the 16-acre site.

"Its as if Cézanne, Rembrandt and Jasper Johns has worked together," said Roland Betts, member of the board of the LMDC, on introducing the new designs. "What will the face of New York look like in the future." Some of the designs include a building, which if constructed, would be the tallest in the world.

A rendering of the team of Richard Meier & Partners, Eisenman Architects, Gwathmey Siegal & Associates, Steven Holl Architects' design concept.

The seven teams that were chosen include Foster and Partners; a team of Richard Meier & Partners, Eisenman Architects, Gwathmey Siegal & Associates, Steven Holl Architects; Petersen / Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design; SOM/SANAA; Studio Daniel Libeskind; THINK; and United Architects.

"We are grateful to the talented teams from around the world for producing the innovative concepts they presented … The reborn World Trade Center must transcend the present to speak to our children and our children's children about our society and its spirit," said John C. Whitehead, chairman of the LOMDC.

A rendering of Petersen / Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design's concept for the World Trade Center.

Foster and Partners plan calls for the construction of the world's tallest building. The new twin towers will join at three points, which will create public observation platforms, exhibits, cafes and other amenities. The links will also serve as escape routes from one tower to the other.

Below ground, there will be a new "Multi-Transporter Center," that will provide Lower Manhattan with a centralized transportation facilities that currently exist in midtown. A glass canopy will cover the Multi-Transporter Center.

At ground level, Foster and Partners' plan will create monumental walls of steel and stone that would create a sanctuary for private remembrance and reflection. Within the spaces only the sky will be visible. Surrounding the memorial sites will be a new World Square, which will consist of a large green park. In addition, sections of the old street grid will be restored. Fulton and Greenwich streets will be extended and Liberty Street will be lined with small shops, restaurants, cinemas and bars to ensure the area has an around-the-clock presence.

A rendering of SOM/SANAA's concept of the future of the World Trade Center.

The team of Richard Meier & Partners, Eisenman Architects, Gwathmey Siegal & Associates, Steven Holl Architects' plan, entitled Memorial Square, calls for the construction of 1,111-ft.-tall buildings which will rise on the east and north sides of the site. To the west side of the site, there will be glass-bottomed reflecting pools that will be built on the footprints of the Twin Towers. Beneath the pools, the volume of the footprints will become a site for memorial rooms.

On the street level, a series of "fingers" will facilitate connections to lower Manhattan.

A model of Studio Daniel Libeskind's design for the future of the World Trade Center.

Peterson / Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design's plan will create a walled public garden, whose shape and geometry are shaped by the Twin Towers footprints. Within the garden will be additional sites for the international memorial competition. The garden is sunk below street level to block out noise. It will contain a 2,797-seat, open amphitheater on the North Tower footprint.

SOM/SANAA's plan will create a dense grid of vertical structures that supports public and cultural spaces.

Studio Daniel Libeskind's plan utilizes the slurry walls to create a memorial space that will burrow down 70 ft. to the bedrock that will have a museum of September 11th contained in the center of the site.

Two large public spaces called The Park of Heroes and the Wedge of Light will always be illuminated with sunlight on September 11th between the hours of 8:46 a.m. and 10:28 p.m. signifying the time when the first plane hit and when the second tower collapsed.

A rendering of THINK's first proposal, The Great Room.

A new Lower Manhattan Rail Station will be connected to the rest of the area through a series of concourses that will link the PATH and subways. In addition, the world's tallest building will be erected. The new tower will rise 1,776 ft. and be called the "Gardens of the World."

THINK created three proposals called Sky Park, The Great Room and Towers of Culture. Sky Park would be a 10-block, 16-acre rooftop public park that will serve as a memorial. Connecting to a grand promenade, which would run along West Street, and begin at St. Paul's Chapel, the park will gradually climb to ten stories and culminate in a cantilevered, 3-acre lawn with views of the Hudson River and New York Harbor.

A rendering of THINK's second design concept, Sky Park.

The memorial space will consist of the footprints and will include the space above, below and around them. Located below the park will be cultural facilities and street level retail.

Along the perimeter of the park will be three large office towers (including the world's tallest) would complete the program in subsequent phases.

The Great Room will be a vast, covered public plaza connecting all the elements of the program under an enormous free-span glass ceiling. A soaring memorial will encompass 13 acres and will serve as a gateway to the city and as a great hall for the transit hub.

A rendering THINK's third design, the Towers of Culture.

A rendering of United Architects plan for World Trade Center.

A phased, mixed-use development will be built along the perimeter to support the roof. Included in the development would be the world's tallest structure (2,100 ft.) that would include offices, a hotel and a transmission tower.

Towers of Culture would recreate the Twin Tower's frame and will be built above and around the original tower's footprint. With the structures would be a phased development of cultural facilities that would be designed by other architects.

United Architects' design would preserve the footprints, which would become part of the memorial. Visitors would descend down a spiral staircase 75 ft. to the bottom. An interconnected building made up of five towers would soar 1,620 ft. and contain 120 floors and about 10.5 million sq. ft. At the 60th floor, which would connect all five buildings, would be a multilevel "city in the sky." The building would be built in five phases.

(ALL Photos courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.)