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The News:
Architects have presented striking new plans for the site of former WTC twin towers in Lower Manhattan in New York, USA. These are in addition to the freedom tower and Ground Zero.
The Background
On September 11, 2001, the majestic twin towers of WTC, which constituted the very face of the New York, the greatest city human have ever built, along with the Statue of Liberty, The Brooklyn Bridge and the Downtown Manhattan Skyline as a whole, came crashing down to the religious extremism.
Let us leave the political dissemination of extremism to other fora but the plot of 9/11 came as a rude shock to every one. The idea of using fully fuelled long distance flights filled with passengers to blast the twin towers adorning the New York skyline is somewhat perplexing, perhaps even to the hyper-creative Hollywood. It never predicted this kind of terror plot. The 9/11 struck at the root of America and its economy and forever, changed the course of nations as we can witness today.
The thousands of gallons of ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel) burning in a few moments gave enough heat to bring down the otherwise sturdy civil engineering marvel. The building is reportedly supported on steel stanchions which melted away under intense heat, making the superstructure of tower loose. As with any multistory building, the collapsing top floors’ weight and force only made it easy for the lower floors to give way. The towers came down like packs of cards within a few minutes gap.
The debris weighing thousands of tones took weeks to clear and finally, Ground Zero, the lowest level of the twin towers exposed. The site has since been preserved like a national monument. Rain or shine, American and international tourists keep pouring to this memorial every day. It witnessed an emotional fifth anniversary earlier this month.
The buildings are gone but spirit would never. In keeping with popular sentiments and obligations, the authorities decided to give a befitting answer, in the form of a still taller tower, tentatively named as the Freedom Tower in the WTC site. The Ground Zero was also retained in the scheme of things, as a memorial.
Current Plans:
Plans and design for new structure were called for soon after overcoming the trauma and clearing the site. A few plans were selected and modified. Finally they seem to zero in on one design for the freedom tower.
As per current plans, there will come three more major towers besides Freedom Tower at the 6.5 hectare WTC site by 2012. The details are given below.
The Freedom Tower: Together with the roof top antenna, it is poised to become the highest structure in the world when it is completed, with 541 m height.
Tower 2: With 78 storeys raising over 382 m, this structure designed by architect Norman Foster (Britain) will have four interconnected towers with square cross sections. Their roofs are specially designed to look as if obliquely cut by a giant knife to form diamond shaped edges and are formed to point to the memorial from the north east side.
Tower 3: Soaring to 352 m in 71 storeys, this slender building with visible brace structure lying to the east of Ground Zero, designed by Richard Rogers (Britain), will have four spires on four corners at roof top.
Tower 4: Designed by Japanese architect, Fumihiko Maki, this perforated aluminium clad building will have 61 storeys in 281 m height on the eastern edge of site.
A 228 m tall new WTC building has already been built and opened in 2006 in the extreme north. A fifth tower of almost the same height is also planned in the southern edge of the site apart from a small visitors’ center and performing arts center near Ground Zero.
Besides these, A beautiful and stunningly designed winged steel ribbed and glass domed structure will be built to be used as a transit hub in the site between the towers 2 and 3.
Among all these, the footprint of the ill-fated twin towers, the Ground Zero, will not be destroyed. These two depressions will be converted into pools, located 9m below street level, amidst a 3.2 hectare memorial park being developed here.
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