World Trade Center

From Freepedia

One World Trade Center
Image:NOAA WTC.jpg
One World Trade Center was the world's tallest building from 1972 to 1973. *
Previous tallest Empire State Building
Surpassed by Sears Tower
Location New York City, USA
Height (m) 417
Height (ft) 1,368
Stories 110
Built 1966-1972
Destroyed 2001
Emporis page
* Fully habitable, self-supported, from main entrance to rooftop; see World's tallest structures for other listings.
Height Details
Antenna / Spire 527.9 m
Roof 417.0 m
Top Floor 411.0 m
Technical Details
Floor area 800,000 m² (1 & 2)
Elevator count: 198 (1 & 2)
Architect Minoru Yamasaki
This article is about the World Trade Center complex in New York City; see this article for the many other buildings around the world that have also been called "world trade centers".


The World Trade Center in New York City was a complex of seven buildings designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki and leased by Larry Silverstein from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey around a central plaza, near the south end of Manhattan in the downtown financial district. Best known for its iconic 110-story Twin Towers, after having survived a bombing on February 26, 1993, all of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in the September 11, 2001 attacks; two collapsed (1 and 2) and the others (3, 4, 5, 6) were damaged beyond repair. Building seven of the World Trade Center also collapsed (see 7 World Trade Center for details).

Contents

Overview

Image:WTC-looking north-orthogonal.jpg
Image:Nyc-230666.jpg

The complex towers were designed by Japanese American architect Minoru Yamasaki with Antonio Brittiochi, and 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. Constructed in the early 1970s under the auspices of the semi-autonomous Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the WTC had its ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 4, 1973. Ultimately the complex came to consist of 7 buildings, but its most notable features were the main twin towers. On any given day, some 50,000 people worked in the towers, with another 200,000 passing through as visitors. The complex was so large that it had its own ZIP Code, 10048.

Although the towers became an undeniable icon of New York City, they were not without their flaws and were troubled in many ways. Initially conceived (as the name suggests) as a complex dedicated to companies and organizations directly involved in "world trade," they at first failed to attract the anticipated clientele; during the WTC's early years various governmental organizations became key tenants. 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 immense "superblock" plaza they sat upon, which replaced a more traditional, dense-packed neighborhood, was regarded by some critics as an inhospitable environment that disrupted the intricate flows of traffic 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." However, the spectacular views available from the WTC's observation deck (located on top of the South Tower) and the Windows on the World restaurant (located on top of the North Tower) made up for its flaws, by offering city-dwellers and tourists alike a perspective on the region that became central to the city's identity.

The Twin Towers

Image:Trade center.jpg Image:WTC Building Arrangement and Site Plan.jpg Image:World Trade Center Building Design with Floor and Elevator Arrangment.jpg

Each of the WTC towers had 110 stories. Tower One (the North Tower, which featured a massive antenna) stood 1,368 ft (417 m) high and Tower Two (the South Tower, which contained the observation deck) was 1,362 ft (415 m) tall. The length and breadth of the towers were 208 ft (63.4 m) x 208 ft (63.4 m). When the towers were completed in 1972 and 1973, respectively, they were the tallest buildings on Earth, 100 feet (30 m) taller than the Empire State Building. Their 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 joke was that the towers looked like the boxes that the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building came out of.

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 ft (442 m). 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.

Image:Lightmatter wtc.jpg

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. Each tower thus contained 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 such as this, the internal floors could be simply light steel and concrete with internal walls not needed for structural integrity, creating a tower that was extremely light for its size. This method of construction also meant that the twin towers had the world's highest load-bearing walls. The exterior steel supports were spaced 22 inches (559 mm) apart, and narrow windows filled the gaps in between.

Of the 110 stories, eight were set aside for technical services (mechanical floors), in four two-floor areas evenly spread up the building. All the remaining floors were free for open-plan offices. Each tower had 350,000 m² (3.8 million ft²) of office space, ample room for companies to set up shop. Altogether the entire complex of seven buildings had 1.04 km² (11.2 million ft²) of space. During the 1990s some 500 companies, especially financial firms, had offices in the complex, including Morgan Stanley, Aon Corporation, Salomon Brothers, and the Port Authority itself.

The twin towers were also the first supertall buildings to use sky lobbies, spaces where commuters can switch from one local elevator to another. Located on the 44th and 78th floors of each tower, those sky lobbies enabled the elevators (each tower had 104) to be used efficiently while taking up a minimum of valuable office space.

Five smaller buildings stood around the 16 acre (65,000 m²) block. One was the 22-floor Vista Hotel, later a Marriott Hotel, that was squeezed between the two towers. Three low-rise buildings in the same hollow tube design as the towers also stood around the plaza; they housed the US Customs Service and the US Commodities Exchange. In 1987, a 46-floor office building called 7 WTC was built north of the block. Under the block was a highly profitable underground shopping mall, which in turn led to various mass transit facilities, particularly the New York City subway system and the Port Authority's own PATH trains connecting Manhattan to Jersey City.

The excavation of the foundations of the building, known as the Bathtub, located on the former Radio Row, 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).

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. One source estimates the 1993 value of the gold at one billion dollars, believed to be owned by Kuwaiti interests. That same source claims that when the World Trade Center was destroyed, the amount of gold "far exceed[ed] the 1993 levels." The gold was finally recovered in its entirety in late 2001.

See World Trade Center site for reconstruction news.

Observation Deck and Windows on the World

Image:World Trade Center Observation Deck New York City 1999.jpg

Although the majority of space in the WTC complex was off-limits to the general public, 1 WTC (north tower) had a restaurant on the 107th floor called "Windows on the World", and 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 instated 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. Weather-permitting, visitors could take two short escalator rides up from the 107th floor and visit the outdoor portion of the observation deck. At a height of 1,362 feet (415 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.

Windows on the World, was an elegant restaurant known as a place for big celebrations, such as weddings. In its last full year of operation, the year 2000, Windows reported revenues of $37.5 million United States dollars, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States.

1993 terrorist attack

Main article: 1993 World Trade Center bombing

On February 26, 1993 at 12:17 PM, a Ryder truck filled with 1,500 pounds (682 kilograms) of explosives was planted by terrorists and detonated in the underground garage of the north tower, opening a 30m hole through 4 sublevels of concrete. Six people were killed and over a thousand injured.

Six Islamist extremist conspirators were convicted of the crime in 1997 and 1998 and given prison sentences of 240 years each. 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.

To commemorate 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 terrorist 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.

2001 terrorist attack

Image:WTC attack 9-11.jpg
Image:WTC1 on fire.jpg
Main Article: September 11, 2001 attacks

The twin towers and 7 World Trade Center collapsed in a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, when two commercial jetliners were deliberately crashed into the twin towers. The four smaller buildings were also severely damaged in the debris and were later demolished. For details on this terrorist attack, see September 11, 2001 attacks; for details of the towers' collapse, see Collapse of the World Trade Center. For details of the tenants at the time of the attack, see One World Trade Center tenants and Two World Trade Center tenants. As of February 2005, a total of 2,749 death certificates related to the WTC attacks had been filed. All but 13 persons died on September 11; of the 13 persons who were injured on September 11 and died subsequently, three persons died in other states, one each in Massachusetts, Missouri, and New Jersey. Of these 2,749 decedents, 2,117 (77%) were males and 632 (23%) were females. Remains of 1,588 of the 2,749 people who died at the World Trade Center, or 58%, were identified on the basis of recovered physical remains. The median age for these decedents was 39 years (range: 2--85 years); the median age was 38 years for females (range: 2--81 years) and 39 years for males (range: 3--85 years). Three people were aged <5 years, and three were aged >80 years.

Image:911site cross.jpg

"CNN". Identification of 9/11 remains comes to an end. URL accessed on February 23, 2005.

"USA Today". NYC's work to ID 9/11 victims ends - for now. URL accessed on February 23, 2005.

Rebuilding

The World Trade Center is slated to be rebuilt as a new mixed-use complex of buildings called Memory Foundations, including the 1776 ft (541 m) Freedom Tower. The height of 1776 ft (541 m) was chosen as a reference to the year of American independence. The new 7 World Trade Center is now under construction, and has recently been "topped-off" (meaning the structural steel has reached the full height of the building).

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency tasked with coordinating the reconstruction of the WTC site 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.

Image:FreedomTower2.jpg

The Norwegian architecture company Snøhetta was chosen for design of the Freedom Cultural Center on the northwest corner of the site. The Cultural Center will contain the Freedom Center which will attempt to trace the history of freedom and the Drawing Center.

While the master plan has been named Memory Foundations, the future site will continue to use the name of the World Trade Center, 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 Republican 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 design, held a press conference where he endorsed the alternative "Twin Towers II" proposal for rebuilding the Twin Towers with a design closely resembling the originals, but with various safety, structural, and technological improvements, and one story taller. (New York Times).

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. However, as of September 11, 2005, no progress has been made in building a new tower, and disagreement still exists over such features as what should appear there, for e.g., how relevant the Freedom Centre's depictions is to it.

Bayonne TV Tower

When the World Trade Center collapsed, many of New York's radio and television broadcasting facilities were destroyed. As a permanent replacement for them, a 609.6 meter high TV tower at Bayonne, New Jersey was considered. A transmission site away from the coast would have allowed a much larger reception zone than the original WTC facilities. In spite of this advantage, the plans seem to have been cancelled.

World Trade Center pregnancy studies

There is scientific speculation that exposure to various toxic products and the pollutant air surrounding the Towers after the WTC collapse may have negative effects on fetal development. Due to this potential harm, a notable children's environmental health center is currently analyzing the children whose mothers were pregnant during the WTC collapse, and were living or working near the World Trade Center towers. The staff of this study assess the children using psychological testing every year and interviews the mothers every six months. The purpose of the study is to determine whether there is significant difference in development and health progression of children whose mothers were exposed versus those who were not exposed after the WTC collapse.

World Trade Center buildings

Image:Wtc-2004-memorial.jpg

See also

External links

Articles

Photos

Movies

(See also: Skyscrapers in film)

  • The 1976 King Kong movie has the giant ape climbing the World Trade Center. See: King Kong (1976)
  • The 1979 film Meteor shows the twin towers hit by a meteor fragment.
  • The 1997 made-for-television film Path to Paradise: The Untold Story of the World Trade Center Bombing chronicled the events leading up to and shortly after the 1993 attack.
  • The 1998 film Armageddon shows a scene where the twin towers are being hit by meteor fragments.
  • The 2000 film Little Nicky's poster and VHS/DVD covers show the World Trade Center in the background of Adam Sandler and Mr. Beefy (an English bulldog) sitting on a bench in Central Park.
  • The release of the movie Spider-Man was delayed until 2002 following the events of 9/11, so that shots of Spider-Man spinning a web between the two towers could be removed using computer-generated imagery.
  • In the 2001 Steven Spielberg film Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), the WTC towers are shown standing 2,000 years into the future after humanity has ceased to exist. This is noted to have been the last major film in which the towers were portrayed prior to their destruction on September 11, 2001.
  • The finale of the 2002 film Men in Black II was set to take place atop one of the WTC buildings. Due to the tragic fate of the towers, it was modified prior to release.
  • The end segments of the movie Vanilla Sky feature the Twin Towers still standing in the panoramic city background.
  • In 2002 the first 9/11 dramatization Stairwell: Trapped In The World Trade Center showed a number of different shots of the towers. The footage was shot in 1999 and was originally going to be used in a movie about about the 1993 bombing of the world trade center. The movie which was entitled Hellevator was shelved after 9/11.

Cartoons

  • In a 1997 episode of The Simpsons entitled The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, Homer is forced to deal with a mountain of parking tickets issued while his car sat illegally for months at the WTC. Particular comic relief is provided when Homer having the need to use the restroom, races by stairs to the top of the North Tower only to discover the only working bathroom is in the South Tower Observation Deck, which he is forced to again access by stairs.

Comic books

  • In the 1989 Damage Control, the twin towers were damaged when a giant robot fell on them. Damage Control, a construction company that specialized in repairing superhero-related damage, had the towers repaired (although visibly crooked) by the end of the issue.
  • The 2004 comic Ex Machina detailed the life of Mitchell Hundred, formerly the world's first and only superhero, who was elected mayor of New York City in the wake of his saving hundreds of lives during the collapse of the north tower, and in preventing the collapse of the south tower.

Video games

The first map of the game Deus Ex, set in 2052, encompasses Liberty Island. The section of the New York City skyline containing the Twin Towers is absent, to reduce memory requirements for the map. The reason that the developers gave, if anyone asked, was that they had been destroyed by terrorists. This was over a year before the real attacks occurred.

Shortly after the devastating attacks, Microsoft announced that future versions of Microsoft Flight Simulator would not include the Twin Towers in the game's New York City skyline. A patch was also made available to remove the WTC buildings from the existing versions of the simulator.

Tenants

Other

Politics

Webcams

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/World_Trade_Center.html"


Views
Personal tools
In other languages
Similar Links