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A
terrorist attack on
September 11, 2001,
destroyed Manhattan's World Trade Center complex, whose twin towers were
the tallest buildings in New York City and two of the tallest in the
world. On that fateful day, hijacked jetliners rammed into the towers,
destroying them and surrounding structures. About 2,900 people lost
their lives. Called Ground Zero, the fenced-in 16-acre work site that
emerged from the rubble has come to symbolize the personal and
historical impact of the attack. In an attempt to grasp the reality of
the destruction, to pray, or simply to witness history, visitors come to
the site for a glimpse of what is left, clustering at every viewpoint
along the secured area's perimeter.
Unlike some of the city's most beloved skyscrapers - the Empire State,
the Chrysler, or the Flatiron buildings - the two 1,350-ft towers of the
World Trade Center, designed by the Seattle-born architect Minoru
Yamasaki, were as much engineering marvels as masterpieces. To some,
they were an unmitigated design disaster - "totalitarian-modernist
monstrosity," complained the Wall Street Journal; to others their
brutalist design and sheer magnitude gave them the beauty of modern
sculpture. At night, lighted from within, they dominated the Manhattan
skyline.
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The
World Trade Center was much more than its most famous twins. A 16-acre,
12-million-square-ft complex, it resembled a miniature city, with a
daytime population of 140,000 (including 40,000 employees and 100,000
business and leisure visitors). The center comprised seven buildings in
all, arranged around a plaza modeled after, and larger than, Venice's
Piazza San Marco. Underground was a giant mall with nearly a hundred
stores and restaurants and a network of subway and other train stations.
Designers and critics may have debated the World Trade Center's
architectural merits, but there's no disputing the ingenuity required to
erect the place. Part of it had to be built below the waterline, so a
giant concrete "bathtub" was built to keep the sea out. From inside the
bathtub, 1.2 million cubic yards of dirt were removed. Finally, upon the
foundation of Manhattan bedrock, 100 million tons of steel (a dozen
different grades), glass (there are 43,000 windows), concrete (425,000
cubic tons), and other materials were built into the twin towers. Some
term it one of the most ambitious engineering feats of all time.
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New York
guide, hotels
New York City
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The Giuliani years
September 11, 2001
World Trade Center
Best of New York
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Diamond District
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