February 4, 2003

MAKE IT A MEMORIAL:

Trade Center finalists to be announced (AP, February 4, 2003)
Officials overseeing the effort to rebuild Ground Zero met privately Monday to pick the final two designs to replace the World Trade Center.

A design that evokes the original trade center with twin latticework towers and another that exposes the foundation walls of the old towers emerged as leading contenders in recent discussions.

The finalists were expected to be announced today, with a final choice to be made later this month.

Each features structures rising higher than the tallest in the world, Malaysia's 1,483-foot Petronas Twin Towers.


While the desire to put up a tower, as a way of flipping the terrorists the bird, is certainly understandable, such buildings are fundamentally anti-human.

The best design we've seen for the site is this one, by amateur Robert Thompson, though here too we'd ditch the tower. The square pools are an especially appealing feature.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 4, 2003 10:38 AM
Comments

I agree. This is the first plan that has spoken to me in any way. All the other ones have too much of the architect in them. Like the architect is memorializing his/her own style.



I was negative about the cathedral at first, but the description is lovely and I think it would serve the memorial aspect incredibly well.

Posted by: NKR at February 4, 2003 11:06 AM

An oversized, garish, inhuman, arrogant structure may be perfectly in keeping with the character of New Yord.



The THINK proposal is really mind-bogglingly... well, it's not even ugly, just bizarre.

Posted by: mike earl at February 4, 2003 1:42 PM

Why not just rebuild the Two Towers the same as they were before?

Posted by: M Ali Choudhury at February 4, 2003 3:02 PM

Because they were hideous. Until September 10th everyone in the Tri-State area hated them.

Posted by: oj at February 4, 2003 3:56 PM

Mike,



Even though the NYC populace is largely bizarre, the architecture is actually pretty conservative. Garish, inhuman, and arrogant belongs in Atlanta, not NY. Which is why I've hated every other proposal until this one. It's too bad it will never see the light of day.

Posted by: NKR at February 4, 2003 6:25 PM

Looking at the actual designs of the two finalists, I'd prefer to take off the ugly-frame towers from the ugly frame towers one, and replace it with the tower from the other, more non descript finalist, and then stick on the cathedral from the Thompson plan. I'm annoyed that neither of the finalists have a prominent religious building such as the cathedral, as September 11 showed how much America, despite all our towers and our whatnot, still needs God. Instead, they want to replace it with some humanistic "World Cultural Center," which seems overly humanistic and feel-good for such a memorial.

Posted by: Timothy at February 4, 2003 6:42 PM

Tim - agreed - site should have an American cathedral, not a temple to European multiculturalism. But New York's elite, who will choose the winner, are psychically more European than American.

Posted by: pj at February 4, 2003 6:51 PM
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