After terrorists struck the New York World Trade Center towers, architects and designers came forward with ambitious plans for reconstruction. What progress has been made? Here's a chronology of the New York World Trade Center reconstruction project, starting from the earliest days after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
September 2001: Terrorists Attack
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The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 destroyed New York's 16-acre World Trade Center complex and killed an estimated 2,749 people. In the days and weeks after the disaster, rescue workers searched for survivors and then, remains. Many first-responders and other workers later became gravely ill with lung conditions brought on by smoke, fumes, and toxic dust.
Winter 2001 - Spring 2002: Debris Cleared
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The collapse of the World Trade Center buildings left some 1.8 billion tons of steel and concrete. For many months, laborers worked through the night to clear away the debris. New York Governor George Pataki and New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani created the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute $10 billion in federal reconstruction funds.
May 2002: Last Support Beam Removed
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The last support beam from the south tower of the former World Trade Center was removed during a ceremony on May 30, 2002. This marked the official end of the World Trade Center recovery operation. The next step was to rebuild a subway tunnel that would extend 70 feet below ground at Ground Zero. By the one-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the World Trade Center reconstruction project was underway.
December 2002: Many Plans Proposed
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Proposals for reconstruction on the site of New York's World Trade Center stirred heated debate. How could architecture meet the practical needs of the City and also honor those who were killed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001? More than 2,000 proposals were submitted to New York's Innovative Design Contest. In December 2002, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation announced seven semi-finalists.
February 2003: Master Plan Selected
Photo courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
From the many proposals submitted, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation selected Studio Libeskind to design a master plan that would restore the 11 million square feet of office space that had been lost on September 11, 2001. Architect Daniel Libeskind proposed a 1,776-foot (541m) spindle-shaped tower with room for indoor gardens above the 70th floor. At the center of the World Trade Center complex, a 70-foot pit would expose the concrete foundation walls of the former Twin Tower buildings.
December 2003: New Design Unveiled
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For many months, architects and planners tweaked Daniel Libeskind's plan for the World Trade Center site. Skyscraper architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill worked (or, according to some reports, "feuded") with Libeskind over the plan, creating a much-revised Freedom Tower. The skyscraper that David Childs envisioned had electricity-generating windmills, a 276-foot spire, and an antenna that soared some 2,000 feet. David Childs officially presented his Freedom Tower design on December 19, 2003.
January 2004: Memorial Proposed
Renderings by Squared Design Lab / Courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
A competition to design a memorial honoring those who died in the terrorist attacks inspired an astonishing 5,201 proposals from 62 countries. The winning concept by Michael Arad and Peter Walker was announced in January 2004. Their proposal, Reflecting Absence, has since gone through many revisions.
July 2004: Tower Cornerstone Laid
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The symbolic cornerstone of 1 World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) was laid in a ceremony on July 4, 2004. Shown here: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils the cornerstone's inscription as New York State Governor George Pataki (left) and New Jersey Governor James McGreevey (right) look on. However, before construction could begin in earnest, the World Trade Center planners faced many controversies and obstacles.
2005: Designs Disputed
Photo © Chris Hondros/Getty Images
For more than a year, construction stalled. Families of September 11 victims objected to the plans. Cleanup workers reported health problems stemming from toxic dust at Ground Zero. Many people worried that the soaring Freedom Tower would be vulnerable to another terrorist attack. A top official in charge of the project resigned. In the midst of the controversy, real estate developer Donald Trump proposed an alternate plan. Architects went back to the drawing board. By June 2005, Freedom Tower had been redesigned. Architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote that Daniel Libeskind's vision had been replaced by "an awkwardly torqued hybrid."
September 2005: Transportation Hub Begun
Courtesy of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey
On September 6, 2005, workers began constructing a $2.21 billion terminal and transportation hub that would link subways to ferries and commuter trains in Lower Manhattan. The architect, Santiago Calatrava, envisioned a glass and steel structure that would suggest a bird in flight. He proposed that each level inside the station be column-free to create an open, bright space. Calatrava's plan was later modified to make the terminal more secure.
