The
World Trade Center (
WTC) was a complex in
Lower ManhattanLower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
whose seven buildings were destroyed in 2001 in the September 11 terrorist attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with six new skyscrapers and a memorial to the casualties of the attacks.
The original World Trade Center was designed by
Minoru Yamasakiwas an American architect of Japanese descent, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century and his firm, Yamasaki & Associates, continues to do business...
in the early 1960s using a
tube-frame structural designIn structural engineering, the tube is the name given to the systems where in order to resist lateral loads a building is designed to act like a three-dimensional hollow tube, hence the name, cantilevered perpendicular to the ground. The system was introduced by Fazlur Rahman Khan while at...
for the twin 110-story towers. In gaining approval for the project, the
Port Authority of New York and New JerseyThe Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a bi-state port district, established in 1921 through an interstate compact, that runs most of the regional transportation infrastructure, including the bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the New York–New Jersey Port District...
agreed to take over the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad which became the
Port Authority Trans-HudsonThe Port Authority Trans-Hudson is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York with New Jersey, and providing service to Jersey City, Hoboken, Harrison, and Newark. It is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...
(PATH). Groundbreaking for the World Trade Center took place on August 5, 1966. The North Tower (1) was completed in December 1970 and the South Tower (2) was finished in July 1971.
Construction of the World Trade CenterThe construction of the World Trade Center was conceived as an urban renewal project, spearheaded by David Rockefeller, to help revitalize Lower Manhattan. The project was developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which hired architect Minoru Yamasaki who came up with the specific...
involved excavating a large amount of material which was used in making Battery Park City on the west side of Lower Manhattan.
The complex was located in the heart of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
's downtown financial district and contained 13.4 million square feet (1.24 million m
2) of office space. The
Windows on the WorldWindows on the World was a restaurant and adjoining bar that operated from April 1976 to September 11, 2001 in New York City on the top floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It underwent a US$25 million renovation after the 1993 WTC bombing...
restaurant was located on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower, while the Top of the World observation deck was located on the 107th floor of the South Tower. Other World Trade Center buildings included the Marriott World Trade Center; 4 World Trade Center; 5 World Trade Center; 6 World Trade Center, which housed the United States Customs; and
7 World Trade Center7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name "7 World Trade Center" has referred to two buildings: the original structure, completed in 1987, and the current structure...
, which was built in 1985. The World Trade Center experienced a fire on February 13, 1975 and a bombing on February 26, 1993. In 1998, the Port Authority decided to privatize the World Trade Center, leasing the buildings to a private company to manage, and awarded the lease to Silverstein Properties in July 2001. One World Trade Center included the corporate headquarters of Cantor Fitzgerald.
On the morning of September 11, 2001,
Al-QaedaAl-Qaeda , alternatively spelled al-Qaida and sometimes al-Qa'ida, is an Islamist group founded sometime between August 1988 and late 1989 and early 1990...
-affiliated hijackers flew two
767The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twinjet airliner produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Passenger versions of the 767 can carry between 181 and 375 passengers, and have a range of 5,200 to 6,590 nautical miles depending on variant and seating configuration. The Boeing 767 has been...
jets into the complex, one into each tower, in a coordinated suicide attack. After burning for 56 minutes, the South Tower (2) collapsed, followed a half-hour later by the North Tower (1), with the attacks on the World Trade Center resulting in 2,750 deaths. 7 World Trade Center collapsed later in the day and the other buildings, although they did not collapse, had to be demolished because they were damaged beyond repair. The process of cleanup and recovery at the
World Trade Center siteThe World Trade Center site sits on 16 acres in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The World Trade Center complex stood on the site until the September 11 attacks; Studio Daniel Libeskind, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Silverstein Properties, and the Lower Manhattan Development...
took eight months. The first new building at the site was 7 World Trade Center which opened in May 2006. The
Lower Manhattan Development CorporationThe Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed after the September 11 attacks to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan....
(LMDC), established in November 2001 to oversee the rebuilding process, organized competitions to select a
site planA site plan is an architectural plan, and a detailed engineering drawing of proposed improvements to a given lot. A site plan "usually shows a building footprint, travelways, parking, drainage facilities, sanitary sewer lines, water lines, trails, lighting, and landscaping".Such a plan of a site is...
and memorial design.
Memory FoundationsMemory Foundations is the name given by Daniel Libeskind to his site plan for the World Trade Center, which was selected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to be the master plan for rebuilding at the World Trade Center site in New York City....
, designed by
Daniel LibeskindDaniel Libeskind, is an American architect, artist, and set designer of Polish-Jewish descent. He founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect...
, was selected as the master plan, which included the 1 World Trade Center, three office towers along Church Street and a memorial designed by
Michael AradMichael Arad is an American architect who won the design competition for the World Trade Center Memorial in New York City in 2004.-Biography:...
.
Planning and construction
The idea of establishing a World Trade Center in New York City was first proposed in 1946. The New York State Legislature passed a bill authorizing New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey to begin developing plans for the project but the plans were put on hold in 1949. During the late 1940s and 1950s, economic growth in New York City was concentrated in
Midtown ManhattanMidtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...
, while
Lower ManhattanLower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
was left out. To help stimulate
urban renewalUrban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of reconstruction...
,
David RockefellerDavid Rockefeller Sr. is an American banker, statesman, globalist, and the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the only surviving grandchild of billionaire oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. ...
suggested that the Port Authority build a World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan.
Initial plans, made public in 1961, identified a site along the
East RiverThe East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
for the World Trade Center. As a bi-state agency, the Port Authority required approval from both the governors of New York and New Jersey in order to undertake new projects. New Jersey Governor
Robert B. MeynerRobert Baumle Meyner of Phillipsburg, New Jersey was an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 44th Governor of New Jersey, from 1954 to 1962...
objected to New York getting a $335 million project. Toward the end of 1961, negotiations with outgoing New Jersey Governor Meyner reached a stalemate.
At the time, ridership on New Jersey's Hudson and Manhattan Railroad (H&M) had declined substantially from a high of 113 million riders in 1927 to 26 million in 1958 after new automobile tunnels and bridges had opened across the
Hudson RiverThe Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. It rises at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains, flows past Albany, and finally forms the border between New York City and New Jersey at its mouth before emptying into...
. In a December 1961 meeting between Port Authority director
Austin J. TobinAustin Joseph Tobin , born in Brooklyn, served as the executive director of the Port of New York Authority, the precursor to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, from 1942 until 1972...
and newly elected New Jersey Governor
Richard J. HughesRichard Joseph Hughes was an American Democratic Party politician, who served as the 45th Governor of New Jersey, from 1962 to 1970 and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973-1979...
, the Port Authority offered to take over the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad to have it become the
Port Authority Trans-HudsonThe Port Authority Trans-Hudson is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York with New Jersey, and providing service to Jersey City, Hoboken, Harrison, and Newark. It is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...
(PATH). The Port Authority also decided to move the World Trade Center project to the Hudson Terminal building site on the west side of Lower Manhattan, a more convenient location for New Jersey commuters arriving via PATH. With the new location and Port Authority acquisition of the H&M Railroad, New Jersey agreed to support the World Trade Center project.
Approval was also needed from New York City Mayor
John LindsayJohn Vliet Lindsay was an American politician,lawyer and broadcaster who was a U.S. Congressman, Mayor of New York City, candidate for U.S...
and the
New York City CouncilThe New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as balance of power against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies...
. Disagreements with the city centered on tax issues. On August 3, 1966, an agreement was reached that the Port Authority would make annual payments to the City in lieu of taxes for the portion of the World Trade Center leased to private tenants. In subsequent years, the payments would rise as the
real estate taxProperty tax, or millage tax, is an ad valorem tax that an owner is required to pay on the value of the property being taxed. Property tax can be defined as "generally, tax imposed by municipalities upon owners of property within their jurisdiction based on the value of such property."There are...
rate increased.
Architectural design
On September 20, 1962, the Port Authority announced the selection of
Minoru Yamasakiwas an American architect of Japanese descent, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century and his firm, Yamasaki & Associates, continues to do business...
as lead architect and
Emery Roth & SonsEmery Roth was an American architect who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 30s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details...
as associate architects. Yamasaki devised the plan to incorporate twin towers; Yamasaki's original plan called for the towers to be 80 stories tall. In order to meet the Port Authority's requirement to build 10 million
square feetThe square foot is an imperial unit / U.S. customary unit of area, used mainly in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It is defined as the area of a square with sides of 1 foot in length...
(930,000 m
2) of office space, the buildings would each need to be 110 stories tall.
A major limiting factor in building height is the issue of elevators; the taller the building, the more
elevatorAn elevator or lift is a vertical transport vehicle that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building...
s are needed to service the building, requiring more space-consuming elevator banks. Yamasaki and the engineers decided to use a new system with sky lobbies; floors where people could switch from a large-capacity express elevator which serves the sky lobbies, to a local elevator that goes to each floor in a section. This allowed the local elevators to be stacked within the same elevator shaft. Located on the 44th and 78th floors of each tower, the sky lobbies enabled the elevators to be used efficiently, increasing the amount of usable space on each floor from 62 to 75 percent by reducing the number of required elevator shafts. Altogether, the World Trade Center had 95 express and local elevators. This system was inspired by the
New York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
system whose lines include local stations where local trains stop and express stations where all trains stop.
Yamasaki's design for the World Trade Center, unveiled to the public on January 18, 1964, called for a square plan approximately 207 feet (63 m) in dimension on each side. The buildings were designed with narrow office windows 18
inchAn inch is the name of a unit of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units. There are 36 inches in a yard and 12 inches in a foot...
es (45
cmA centimetre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current SI base unit of length. Centi is the SI prefix for a factor of...
) wide, which reflected Yamasaki's
fear of heightsAcrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear of heights. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort that share both similar etiology and options for treatment.Acrophobia can be dangerous, as sufferers can experience a panic attack in a high place and become too...
as well as his desire to make building occupants feel secure. Yamasaki's design included building facades sheathed in aluminum-alloy. The World Trade Center was one of the most striking American implementations of the architectural ethic of
Le CorbusierCharles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who chose to be known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and also painter, who is famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called Modern architecture or the International Style...
and it was the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies.
In addition to the twin towers, the plan for the World Trade Center complex included four other low-rise buildings which were built in the early 1970s. The 47-story 7 World Trade Center building was added in the 1980s to the north of the main complex. Altogether, the main World Trade Center complex occupied a superblock.
Structural design
The structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson worked to implement Yamasaki's design, developing the
tube-frame structural systemIn structural engineering, the tube is the name given to the systems where in order to resist lateral loads a building is designed to act like a three-dimensional hollow tube, hence the name, cantilevered perpendicular to the ground. The system was introduced by Fazlur Rahman Khan while at...
used in the twin towers. The Port Authority's Engineering Department served as
foundation engineersGeotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering includes investigating existing subsurface conditions and materials; determining their physical/mechanical and chemical properties that are relevant to...
, Joseph R. Loring & Associates as
electrical engineersElectrical engineering, sometimes referred to as electrical and electronic engineering, is a field of engineering that deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after...
, and Jaros, Baum & Bolles as
mechanical engineersMechanical Engineering is an engineering discipline that was developed from the application of principles from physics and materials science. Mechanical engineering involves the analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of various systems...
. Tishman Realty & Construction Company was the
general contractorA general contractor is a group or individual that contracts with another organization or individual for the construction, renovation or demolition of a building, road or other structure...
on the World Trade Center project. Guy F. Tozzoli, director of the World Trade Department at the Port Authority, and Rino M. Monti, the Port Authority's Chief Engineer, oversaw the project. As an interstate agency, the Port Authority was not subject to local laws and regulations of the City of New York including
building codeA building code, or building control, is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings and nonbuilding structures. The main purpose of the building codes is to protect public health, safety and general welfare as they relate to the...
s. Nonetheless, the structural engineers of the World Trade Center ended up following draft versions of the new 1968 building codes.
The tube-frame design, earlier introduced by
Fazlur KhanFazlur Rahman Khan , born in Dhaka, Bengal , was a Bangladeshi-American architect and structural engineer. He did the structural engineering" of the Willis Tower and John Hancock Center...
, was a new approach which allowed open floor plans rather than columns distributed throughout the interior to support building loads as had traditionally been done. The World Trade Center towers utilized high-strength, load-bearing perimeter
steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
columns called Vierendeel trusses that were spaced closely together to form a strong, rigid wall structure, supporting virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads, and sharing the gravity load with the core columns. The perimeter structure containing 59 columns per side was constructed with extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces each consisting of three columns, three stories tall, connected by spandrel plates. The spandrel plates were welded to the columns to create the modular pieces off-site at the fabrication shop. Adjacent modules were bolted together with the splices occurring at mid-span of the columns and spandrels. The spandrel plates were located at each floor, transmitting
shear stressA shear stress, denoted , is defined as a stress which is applied parallel or tangential to a face of a material, as opposed to a normal stress which is applied perpendicularly.-General shear stress:...
between columns, allowing them to work together in resisting lateral loads. The joints between modules were staggered vertically so the column splices between adjacent modules were not at the same floor.
The core of the towers housed the elevator and utility shafts, restrooms, three stairwells, and other support spaces. The core –a combined steel and concrete structure– of each tower was a rectangular area 87 by 135 feet (27 by 41 m) and contained 47 steel columns running from the bedrock to the top of the tower. The large, column-free space between the perimeter and core was bridged by prefabricated floor trusses. The floors supported their own weight as well as live loads, providing lateral stability to the exterior walls and distributing wind loads among the exterior walls. The floors consisted of 4 inch (10 cm) thick lightweight concrete slabs laid on a fluted steel deck. A grid of lightweight bridging trusses and main trusses supported the floors. The trusses connected to the perimeter at alternate columns and were on 6 foot 8 inch (2.03 m) centers. The top chords of the trusses were bolted to seats welded to the spandrels on the exterior side and a channel welded to the core columns on the interior side. The floors were connected to the perimeter spandrel plates with
viscoelasticViscoelasticity is the property of materials that exhibit both viscous and elastic characteristics when undergoing deformation. Viscous materials, like honey, resist shear flow and strain linearly with time when a stress is applied. Elastic materials strain instantaneously when stretched and just...
dampers which helped reduce the amount of sway felt by building occupants. The trusses supported a thick lightweight concrete floor slab with shear connections for composite action.
Hat
trussIn architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight slender members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and...
es (or "outrigger truss") located from the 107th floor to the top of the buildings were designed to support a tall communication
antennaAn antenna is a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas convert electromagnetic waves into electrical currents and vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, wireless...
on top of each building. Only 1 WTC (north tower) actually had an antenna fitted; it was added in 1978. The truss system consisted of six trusses along the long axis of the core and four along the short axis. This truss system allowed some load redistribution between the perimeter and core columns and supported the transmission tower.
The tube frame design using steel core and perimeter columns protected with sprayed-on fire resistant material created a relatively lightweight structure that would sway more in response to the wind compared to traditional structures such as the
Empire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion...
that have thick, heavy
masonryMasonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone such as marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, and...
for
fireproofingFireproofing, a passive fire protection measure, refers to the act of making materials or structures more resistant to fire, or to those materials themselves, or the act of applying such materials. Applying a certification listed fireproofing system to certain structures allows these to have a...
of steel structural elements. During the design process,
wind tunnelA wind tunnel is a research tool used in aerodynamic research. It is used to study the effects of air moving past solid objects.-Theory of operation:Wind tunnels were first proposed as a means of studying vehicles in free flight...
tests were done to establish design wind pressures that the World Trade Center towers could be subjected to and structural response to those forces. Experiments also were done to evaluate how much sway occupants could comfortably tolerate, however, many subjects experienced dizziness and other ill effects. One of the chief engineers Leslie Robertson worked with Canadian engineer
Alan G. DavenportAlan Garnett Davenport was a professor at the University of Western Ontario and founder of its Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory. He analyzed the wind's effect on a significant portion of the worlds tallest buildings including the building formerly known as the Sears Tower, Citicorp Center,...
to develop viscoelastic
dampersIn physics, damping is any effect that tends to reduce the amplitude of oscillations in an oscillatory system, particularly the harmonic oscillator.In mechanics, friction is one such damping effect...
to absorb some of the sway. These viscoelastic dampers, used throughout the structures at the joints between floor trusses and perimeter columns along with some other structural modifications, reduced the building sway to an acceptable level.
Construction
In March 1965, the Port Authority began acquiring property at the World Trade Center site. Demolition work began on March 21, 1966 to clear thirteen square blocks of low rise buildings in
Radio RowThe phrase Radio Row is a nickname for an urban street or district specializing in the sale of radio and electronic equipment and parts. Radio Rows arose in many cities with the 1920s rise of broadcasting and declined after mid century.-New York:...
for construction of the World Trade Center. Groundbreaking for the construction of the World Trade Center took place on August 5, 1966.
The site of the World Trade Center was located on landfill with the bedrock located below. In order to construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build the "
bathtubThe Bathtub refers to the underground foundation area at the site of the World Trade Center and accompanying buildings in New York City.The Bathtub encompasses a large, roughly rectangular excavation down to bedrock surrounded by reinforced concrete walls, intended to serve as dams to prevent water...
" with a
slurry wallA slurry wall is technique used to build reinforced-concrete walls in areas of soft earth close to open water or with a high ground water table. This technique is typically used to build diaphragm walls surrounding tunnels and open cuts, and to lay foundations.A trench is excavated to create a...
around the West Street side of the site, serving to keep water from the Hudson River out. The slurry method selected by Port Authority’s chief engineer, John M. Kyle, Jr., involved digging a
trench-Agriculture:Trenches have long been used to carry water. Trenches can be used for draining purposes, leading water away from a swamp or wetland that is to be dried out. Likewise they can be used for irrigation purposes, directing water into dry areas...
, and as
excavationEarthworks are engineering works created through the moving of massive quantities of soil or unformed rock. Engineers need to concern themselves with issues of geotechnical engineering and with quantity estimation to ensure that soil volumes in the cuts match those of the fills, while minimizing...
proceeded, filling the space with a "slurry" mixture composed of
bentoniteBentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate, generally impure clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. There are a few types of bentonites and their names depend on the dominant elements, such as K, Na, Ca, and Al. As noted in several places in the geologic literature, there are some...
and water which plugged holes and kept groundwater out. When the trench was dug out, a steel cage was inserted and concrete was poured in, forcing the "slurry" out. It took fourteen months for the slurry wall to be completed; it was necessary before excavation of material from the interior of the site could begin. The 1.2 million
cubic yardA cubic yard is an Imperial / U.S. customary unit of volume, used in the United States, Canada, and the UK. It is defined as the volume of a cube with sides of 1 yard in length.- Symbols :...
s (917,000
m3The cubic metre is the SI derived unit of volume. It is the volume of a cube with edges one metre in length. An alternative name, which allowed a different usage with metric prefixes, was the stère...
) of material excavated were used to expand the
ManhattanManhattan is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located primarily on Manhattan Island at the mouth of the Hudson River.New York County, which has the same boundaries as the Borough of Manhattan , is the most densely populated county in the United States, with a 2008 population of 1,634,795...
shoreline across West Street to form Battery Park City (along with other fill and dredge material.)
In January 1967, the Port Authority awarded $74 million in contracts to various steel suppliers, and
Karl KochKarl Koch Steel Consulting is a steel construction firm, based in Oyster Bay, New York. The company was established in the 1950s as Karl Koch Erecting Company, Inc., of Carteret, New Jersey. The Karl Koch Erecting Company was hired by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as one of the...
was hired to erect the steel.
Tishman Realty & ConstructionTishman Realty & Construction is corporation that owns and operates:Tishman Construction Corporation is a privately-held firm headquartered in New York City with operating subsidiaries located across the United States. It provides a wide range of construction and construction-related services for...
was hired in February 1967 to oversee construction of the project. Construction work began on the North Tower in August 1968; construction on the South Tower was underway by January 1969. The original
Hudson TubesThe Downtown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains under the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City in the United States. In lower Manhattan the trains travel to and from the World Trade Center station. In Jersey City the trains stop at the Exchange Place station...
, carrying PATH trains into Hudson Terminal, remained in service as elevated tunnels during the construction process until 1971 when a new
PATH stationThe World Trade Center PATH station originally opened on July 19, 1909 as the Hudson Terminal. When the Hudson Terminal was torn down to make way for the World Trade Center, a new station was built, which opened in 1971...
opened.
The
topping outIn building construction, topping out, or topping off, is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building's structure. A topping out ceremony is usually held to commemorate the event.While common in England,...
ceremony of 1 WTC (North Tower) took place on December 23, 1970, while 2 WTC's ceremony (South Tower) occurred later on July 19, 1971. The first tenants moved into the North Tower in December 1970; the South Tower accepted tenants in January 1972. When the World Trade Center twin towers were completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had reached $900 million. The ribbon cutting ceremony was on April 4, 1973.
Criticism
Plans to build the World Trade Center were not without controversy. The site for the World Trade Center was the location of Radio Row, home to hundreds of commercial and industrial tenants, property owners, small businesses, and approximately 100 residents, many of whom fiercely resisted forced relocation. A group of small businesses affected filed an
injunctionAn injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order, whereby a party is required to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. The party that fails to adhere to the injunction faces civil or criminal penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions for failing to follow the...
challenging the Port Authority's power of
eminent domainEminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition or expropriation is the inherent power of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but...
. The case made its way through the court system to the
United States Supreme CourtThe Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
; the Court refused to accept the case.
Private real estate developers and members of the Real Estate Board of New York, led by
Empire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion...
owner Lawrence A. Wien, expressed concerns about this much "subsidized" office space going on the open market, competing with the private sector when there was already a glut of vacancies. Others questioned whether the Port Authority really ought to take on a project described by some as a "mistaken social priority."
The World Trade Center design brought criticism of its aesthetics from the
American Institute of ArchitectsThe American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
and other groups.
Lewis MumfordLewis Mumford was an American historian and philosopher of technology and science. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a tremendously broad career as a writer that also included a period as an influential literary critic...
, author of
The City in HistoryThe City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects is a 1961 National Book Award winner by American historian Lewis Mumford.It was first published by Harcourt, Brace & World ....
and other works on
urban planningUrban, city, and town planning is the integration of the disciplines of land use planning and transport planning to explore a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities...
, criticized the project and described it and other new skyscrapers as "just glass-and-metal filing cabinets." The twin towers' narrow office windows, only wide, were disliked by many for impairing the view from the buildings.
The trade center's "superblock", replacing a more traditional, dense neighborhood, was regarded by some critics as an inhospitable environment that disrupted the complicated traffic network typical of Manhattan. For example, in his book
The Pentagon of Power, 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." On the other hand, Mr. Yamasaki saw the expanse as a focal point of serenity amidst the chaos of the city.
For many years, the immense Austin J. Tobin Plaza was unwelcoming and often beset by brisk winds at ground level. In 1999, the outdoor plaza reopened after undergoing $12 million renovations which involved replacing
marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
pavers with gray and pink
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
stones, adding new benches, planters, new restaurants, food kiosks and outdoor dining areas.
North and South towers
With the construction of
7 World Trade Center7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name "7 World Trade Center" has referred to two buildings: the original structure, completed in 1987, and the current structure...
in the 1980s, the World Trade Center had a total of seven buildings, but the most notable were the main two towers, which each were 110 stories tall, stood over high, and occupied about one
acreThe acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre....
(208.71 square feet) of the total of the site's land. During a press conference in 1973,
Minoru Yamasakiwas an American architect of Japanese descent, best known for his design of the twin towers of the World Trade Center buildings 1 and 2. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century and his firm, Yamasaki & Associates, continues to do business...
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".
When completed in 1972, 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) became the tallest building in the world for two years, surpassing the Empire State Building after a 40-year reign. The North Tower stood tall and featured a telecommunications
antennaAn antenna is a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas convert electromagnetic waves into electrical currents and vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, wireless...
or mast that was added at the top of the roof in 1978 and stood tall. With the 360-foot-tall
antennaAn antenna is a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas convert electromagnetic waves into electrical currents and vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, wireless...
/mast, the highest point of the North Tower reached . 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) became the second tallest building in the world when completed in 1973. The South Tower's rooftop observation deck was 1,377 feet (420 m) high and its indoor observation deck was 1,310 feet (399 m) high. The World Trade Center towers held the height record only briefly:
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
's
Sears TowerWillis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973 it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York...
, finished in May 1973, reached 1,450 feet (442 m) at the rooftop.
Of the 110 stories, eight were set aside for technical services in
mechanical floorA mechanical floor, mechanical penthouse, or mechanical level is a storey of a high-rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. "Mechanical" is the most commonly-used term, but words such as utility, technical, service, and plant are also used...
s Level B5/B6 (floors 7/8, 41/42, 75/76, and 108/109), which are four two-floor areas evenly spaced up the building. All the remaining floors were free for open-plan offices. Each floor of the towers had of space for
occupancyOccupancy is a defined legal term in building construction and building codes. It refers to the use or intended use of a building or part thereof for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property. A closely-related meaning is the number of units in such a building that are rented or...
. Each tower had 3.8 million square feet (350,000 m
2) of office space. Altogether the entire complex of seven buildings had 11.2 million square feet (1.04 km
2) of space.
Initially conceived as a complex dedicated to companies and organizations directly taking part in "world trade," they at first failed to attract the expected clientèle. During the early years, various governmental organizations became key tenants of the World Trade Center including the
State of New YorkAs in all 50 states, the head of the executive branch of the government of New York is a Governor. The legislative branch is called the Legislature and consists of a Senate and an Assembly. Unlike most states, New York electoral law permits electoral fusion; thus New York ballots tend to show a...
. 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 StreetWall Street is a street in Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. It runs east from Broadway to South Street on the East River, through the historical center of the Financial District. It is the first permanent home of the New York Stock Exchange; over time Wall Street became the...
—became tenants. During the 1990s, approximately 500 companies had offices in the complex including many financial companies such as
Morgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is a global financial services provider headquartered in New York City, New York, United States. It serves a diversified group of corporations, governments, financial institutions, and individuals. Morgan Stanley also operates in 33 countries around the world with 600 offices, with...
, Aon Corporation,
Salomon BrothersSalomon Brothers was a bulge bracket, Wall Street investment bank. Founded in 1910, it remained a partnership until the early 1980s, when it was acquired by the commodity trading firm then known as Phibro Corporation. This proved a "wag the dog" type merger as the parent company became first...
and the Port Authority itself. The basement concourse of the World Trade Center included
The Mall at the World Trade CenterThe Mall at the World Trade Center was a shopping center located in the concourse area of the World Trade Center before it was destroyed on September 11, 2001.-Prior to 9/11:...
along with a
PATH stationThe World Trade Center PATH station originally opened on July 19, 1909 as the Hudson Terminal. When the Hudson Terminal was torn down to make way for the World Trade Center, a new station was built, which opened in 1971...
. The North Tower became the home of the corporate headquarters of Cantor Fitzgerald.
Electrical service to the towers was supplied by Consolidated Edison (ConEd) at 13,800 volts. This service passed through the World Trade Center Primary Distribution Center (PDC) and sent up through the core of the building to electrical substations located on the mechanical floors. The substations "stepped" the 13,800 primary voltage down to 480/277 volt secondary power and further to 120/208 volt general power and lighting service. The complex also was served by emergency generators located in the sublevels of the towers and on the roof of 5 WTC.
The 110th floor of 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) housed commercial and public service radio & television transmission equipment. The roof of 1 WTC contained a vast array of transmission antennas including the 360 ft (approx 110m) center antenna mast rebuilt in 1999 by Dielectric Inc. to accommodate
DTVDigital television is the sending and receiving of moving images and sound by discrete signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV.-Timeline:...
. The center mast contained the television signals for almost all NYC television broadcasters:
WCBS-TVWCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City and owned by CBS Corporation. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center in midtown Manhattan and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building...
2, WNBC-TV 4,
WNYWWNYW, channel 5, is the flagship television station of the News Corporation-owned Fox Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. The station's transmitter is atop the Empire State Building and its studio facilities are located on Manhattan's Yorkville neighborhood...
5,
WABC-TVWABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in New York City. WABC-TV is best known in broadcasting circles for its highly successful version of the Eyewitness News format and for its morning show Live with Regis and Kelly,...
7,
WWOR-TVWWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV network licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the New York City metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship WNYW...
9
SecaucusSecaucus is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 15,931. The town's name is pronounced "SEE-kaw-cus", with the accent on the first syllable, not the second as often used by non-natives....
,
WPIXWPIX, channel 11, is a television station in New York City built, signed on, and owned by the Tribune Company. WPIX also serves as the flagship station of the CW Television Network...
11,
WNETWNET, channel 13 , is a non-commercial television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey. With its signal covering the three-state New York metropolitan area, WNET is a flagship station of the Public Broadcasting Service and a primary provider of PBS programming...
13
NewarkBrick City redirects here. For the township in Ocean County, see Brick Township, New Jersey.Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S...
,
WPXN-TVWPXN-TV, which broadcasts on channel 31 in New York City, is the flagship station of the Ion Television network, formerly known as Pax TV and i.-Municipal ownership:...
31 and
WNJUWNJU, channel 47, is the flagship station of the Spanish-language Telemundo television network, licensed to Linden, New Jersey and serving the New York City television market. WNJU is owned by NBC Universal, and is one-half of a duopoly with NBC network flagship WNBC-TV...
47. It also had four NYC FM broadcasters:
WPAT-FMWPAT-FM, known on-air as "93.1 Amor", is a radio station with a Spanish-language adult contemporary format. Located on 93.1 FM, the station, which is licensed to Paterson, New Jersey, serves the New York City Metropolitan area....
93.1,
WNYCWNYC is a public radio station and formerly a city owned television station in New York City, New York. Broadcasting from lower Manhattan, it is a member station of National Public Radio and carries a mixed news and varied music format on two radio frequencies...
93.9,
WKCRWKCR-FM . Licensed to New York, New York, USA, the radio station serves the New York area. The station is currently owned by Trustees of Columbia University in New York.- History :...
89.9, and
WKTUWKTU is a radio station based in New York City. The station's broadcast transmitter is located on the top of the Empire State Building and its city of license is Lake Success, New York, with offices formerly in the "Newport" section of Jersey City, New Jersey...
103.5. Access to the roof was controlled from the WTC Operations Control Center (OCC) located in the B1 level of 2 WTC.
Top of the World observation deck
Although most of the space in the World Trade Center complex was off-limits to the public, the South Tower featured a public observation area called
Top of the World Trade Center ObservatoriesTop of the World Trade Center Observatories was a popular tourist attraction and observation deck on the 107th floor of 2 World Trade Center, the South Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan in New York City...
on its 107th floor. When visiting the observation deck, visitors would first pass through security checks added after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing then were whisked to the 107th floor indoor observatory at a height of . The Port Authority renovated the observatory in 1995, then leased it to Ogden Entertainment to operate. Attractions added to the observation deck included a simulated helicopter ride around the city. The food court was designed with a subway car theme. Weather permitting, visitors could take two short escalator rides up from the 107th floor to an outdoor viewing platform at a height of 1,377 feet (420 m). On a clear day, visitors could see up to in any given direction. An anti-suicide fence was placed on the roof itself, with the viewing platform set back and elevated above it, requiring only an ordinary railing and leaving the view unobstructed, unlike the observation deck of the
Empire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion...
.
Windows on the World restaurant
The North Tower had a restaurant on its 106th and 107th floors called
Windows on the WorldWindows on the World was a restaurant and adjoining bar that operated from April 1976 to September 11, 2001 in New York City on the top floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It underwent a US$25 million renovation after the 1993 WTC bombing...
, which opened in April 1976. The restaurant was developed by
Joe BaumJoe Baum was an American restaurateur and innovator responsible for creating the country's first themed restaurants, including masterpieces such as The Four Seasons Restaurant, Windows on the World, and the restored Rainbow Room...
at a cost of more than $17 million. Aside from the main restaurant, two offshoots were located at the top of the North Tower: "Hors d'Oeuvrerie" (offered a Danish smorgasbord during the day and sushi in the evening) and "Cellar in the Sky" (a small wine bar). Windows on the World also had a wine school program run by
Kevin ZralyKevin Zraly is an American wine educator and the founder of the Windows on the World Wine School, who has been described as America's most famous and entertaining wine teacher...
. Windows on the World was closed following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Upon reopening in 1996, Hors d'Oeuvrerie and Cellar in the Sky were replaced with the "Greatest Bar on Earth" and "Wild Blue". In 2000, its last full year of operation, Windows on the World reported revenues of $37 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States.
Other buildings
Five smaller buildings stood around the 16 acre (65,000 m
2) block. One was the 22-floor hotel which opened in 1981 as the Vista Hotel and in 1995 became the Marriott World Trade Center (3 WTC) at the southwest corner of the site. Three low-rise buildings (4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC) in the same hollow tube design as the towers also stood around the plaza. 6 World Trade Center, at the northwest corner, housed the
United States Customs ServiceU.S. Customs and Border Protection is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing hundreds of U.S...
and the
U.S. Commodities ExchangeA commodities exchange is an exchange where various commodities and derivatives products are traded. Most commodity markets across the world trade in agricultural products and other raw materials and contracts based on them...
. 5 World Trade Center was located at the northeast corner above the
PATH stationThe World Trade Center PATH station originally opened on July 19, 1909 as the Hudson Terminal. When the Hudson Terminal was torn down to make way for the World Trade Center, a new station was built, which opened in 1971...
and 4 World Trade Center was at the southeast corner. In 1987, a 47-floor office building called
7 WTC7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name "7 World Trade Center" has referred to two buildings: the original structure, completed in 1987, and the current structure...
was built north of the block. Beneath the World Trade Center complex was an
underground shopping mallThe Mall at the World Trade Center was a shopping center located in the concourse area of the World Trade Center before it was destroyed on September 11, 2001.-Prior to 9/11:...
which in turn had connections to various mass transit facilities including the
New York City SubwayThe New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
system and the Port Authority's own
PATHThe Port Authority Trans-Hudson is a rapid transit railroad linking Manhattan, New York with New Jersey, and providing service to Jersey City, Hoboken, Harrison, and Newark. It is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...
trains connecting Manhattan to
Jersey CityJersey City is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population of Jersey City was 240,055, making it New Jersey's second-largest city, behind Newark. As of the Census Bureau's 2007 estimate, the population had grown to 242,389...
, Hoboken, and Newark.
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 by the vault held. Seven weeks after the September 11 attacks, $230 million in precious metals were removed from basement vaults of 4 WTC which included 3,800 100-Troy-ounce registered gold bars and 30,000 1,000-ounce
silverSilver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
bars.
Life and events
On a typical weekday 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:
1004810048 is the zip code assigned to the former World Trade Center in New York City. Years after the September 11 attacks, some mail continues to be sent to 10048 by senders who have not updated their mailing lists...
. The towers offered expansive views from the observation deck atop the South Tower and the
Windows on the World restaurant on top of the North Tower. The Twin Towers became known worldwide, appearing in numerous movies and television shows as well as on postcards and other merchandise, and became seen as a New York icon, in the same league as the
Empire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion...
,
Chrysler BuildingThe Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at , it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State...
and the
Statue of LibertyThe Statue of Liberty , officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World , dedicated on October 28, 1886, is a monument commemorating the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, given to the United States by the people of France to represent the friendship...
.
French high wire acrobatic performer
Philippe PetitPhilippe Petit is a French high wire artist who gained fame for his high-wire walk between the Twin Towers in New York City on August 7, 1974...
walked between the towers on a tightrope in 1974, as shown in the documentary film
Man on WireMan on Wire is a 2008 documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Philippe Petit's book, To Reach the Clouds, recently released in paperback with the new title Man on Wire...
. Brooklyn toymaker
George WilligGeorge Willig is a mountain-climber from Queens, New York, United States, who climbed the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 25 May, 1977, about 2 1/2 years after tightrope walker Phillippe Petit walked between the tops of the two towers...
scaled the south tower in 1977.
In 1983, on
Memorial DayMemorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May . Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service...
, high-rise firefighting and rescue advocate,
Dan GoodwinDan Goodwin is a building, rock, and sports climber originally from Kennebunkport, Maine.He currently divides his time between Lake Tahoe and Marin County, California....
, for the purpose of calling attention to the inability to rescue people trapped in the upper floors of skyscrapers, successfully climbed the outside of the World Trade Center's North Tower.
The
1995 PCA world chess championshipThe Classical World Chess Championship 1995, known at the time as the PCA World Chess Championship 1995, was held from September 10, 1995 to October 16, 1995 on the 107th floor of the former World Trade Center in New York City. Garry Kasparov, the defending champion, played Viswanathan Anand, the...
was played on the 107th floor of the South Tower.
In January 1998, Mafia member
Ralph GuarinoRalphie Guarino was an FBI informant and a former associate of the Decavalcante Crime Family, the New-Jersey based crime family that is sometimes considered to be the inspiration for The Sopranos...
, who had gained maintenance access to the World Trade Center, arranged a three-man crew for a heist which netted over $2 million from a Brink's delivery to the eleventh floor of the World Trade Center.
February 13, 1975 fire
On February 13, 1975, a three-alarm fire broke out on the 11th floor of the North Tower. Fire spread through the core to the 9th and 14th floors by igniting the insulation of telephone cables in a utility shaft that ran vertically between floors. Areas at the furthest extent of the fire were extinguished almost immediately and the original fire was put out in a few hours. Most of the damage was concentrated on the 11th floor, fueled by cabinets filled with paper, alcohol-based fluid for office machines, and other office equipment.
FireproofingFireproofing, a passive fire protection measure, refers to the act of making materials or structures more resistant to fire, or to those materials themselves, or the act of applying such materials. Applying a certification listed fireproofing system to certain structures allows these to have a...
protected the steel from melting and there was no structural damage to the tower. Other than the damage caused by the fire, a few floors below suffered water damage from the extinguishing of the fires above. At that time, the World Trade Center had no sprinkler systems.
February 26, 1993 bombing
On February 26, 1993, at 12:17 p.m., a
RyderRyder System, Inc. , or Ryder, is an American-based provider of transportation and supply chain management solutions with global operations. Ryder specializes in fleet management, supply chain management and dedicated contracted carriage...
truck filled with 1,500
poundsThe pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
(680 kg) of explosives, planted by
Ramzi YousefRamzi Ahmed Yousef or Ramzi Mohammed Yousef , birth name possibly Abdul Basit Mahmoud Abdul Karim and also known by dozens of aliases, was born in Kuwait and is of Pakistani descent. He was one of the planners of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing...
, detonated in the underground garage of the North Tower. The blast opened a 100 foot (30 m) hole through 5 sublevels with the greatest damage occurring on levels B1 and B2 and significant structural damage on level B3. Six people were killed and 50,000 other workers and visitors were left gasping for air within the 110 story towers. Many people inside the North Tower were forced to walk down darkened stairwells that contained no emergency lighting, some taking two hours or more to reach safety.
Yousef fled to Pakistan after the bombing but was arrested in
IslamabadIslām ābād is the capital of Pakistan, and is the tenth largest city in Pakistan with an estimated population of over 673,766 in 2009...
in February 1995, and was extradited back to the United States to face trial. Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman was convicted in 1996 for involvement in the bombing and other plots. Yousef and
Eyad IsmoilEyad Ismoil , also transliterated as Eyad Ismail, is a Jordanian citizen who, for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was convicted by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York of conspiracy in 1997.-Early life:Born in Kuwait, Ismoil attended high school...
were convicted in November 1997 for their carrying out the bombing. Four others had been convicted in May 1994 for their involvement in the 1993 bombing. According to a presiding judge, the conspirators' chief aim at the time of the attack was to destabilize the north tower and send it crashing into the south tower, toppling both landmarks.
Following the bombing, floors that were blown out needed to be repaired to restore the structural support they provided to columns. The slurry wall was in peril following the bombing and loss of the floor slabs which provided lateral support to counteract pressure from Hudson River water on the other side. The
refrigerationRefrigeration is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space, or from a substance, and moving it to a place where it is unobjectionable. The primary purpose of refrigeration is lowering the temperature of the enclosed space or substance and then maintaining that lower temperature.The term...
plant on sublevel B5, which provided
air conditioningAn air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area, or provide heat to an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...
to the entire World Trade Center complex, was heavily damaged. Subsequent to the bombing, the Port Authority installed photoluminescent markings in the stairwells. The
fire alarm systemAn automatic fire alarm system is designed to detect the unwanted presence of fire by monitoring environmental changes associated with combustion. In general, a fire alarm system is either classified as automatic, manually activated, or both...
for the entire complex needed to be replaced because critical wiring and signaling in the original system was destroyed. As a memorial to the victims of the bombing of the tower, a
reflecting poolA reflecting pool or reflection pool is a structure often used in memorials. It generally consists of a shallow pool of water, usually quite calm. A design with edges being slightly deeper than the center of the pool is often used to suppress wave formation...
was installed with the names of those who had been killed in the blast. However, the memorial was destroyed following the September 11 attacks. A new memorial is planned to be built honoring the victims of the bombing together with the 9/11 attacks on the New World Trade Center site.
Lease
In 1998, the Port Authority approved plans to privatize the World Trade Center. In 2001, the Port Authority sought to lease the World Trade Center to a private entity. Bids for the lease came from
Vornado Realty TrustVornado Realty Trust is a New York based real estate investment trust. It is the inheritor of real estate formerly controlled by companies including Two Guys and Alexander's.- History :...
, a joint bid between
Brookfield PropertiesBrookfield Properties Corporation is a Toronto-based North American commercial real estate company. Brookfield Asset Management owns 50% of its outstanding common shares....
Corporation and
Boston PropertiesBoston Properties, Inc. is a self-managed real estate investment trust based in Boston, Massachusetts. Its primary focus is "Class A" office space which it acquires, develops, and manages in the major markets of Boston, New York City, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco...
, and a joint bid by Silverstein Properties and
The Westfield GroupThe Westfield Group is an Australian company and the largest retail property group in the world by equity market capitalisation and one of the largest entities listed on the Australian Securities Exchange....
. By privatizing the World Trade Center, it would be added to the city's tax rolls and provide funds for other Port Authority projects. On February 15, 2001, the Port Authority announced that Vornado Trust Realty had won the lease for the World Trade Center, paying $3.25 billion for the 99-year lease.
Vornado RealtyVornado Realty Trust is a New York based real estate investment trust. It is the inheritor of real estate formerly controlled by companies including Two Guys and Alexander's.- History :...
outbid Silverstein by $600 million though Silverstein upped his offer to $3.22 billion. However, Vornado insisted on last minute changes to the deal, including a shorter 39-year lease which the Port Authority considered nonnegotiable. Vornado later withdrew and Silverstein's bid for the lease to the World Trade Center was accepted on April 26, 2001, and closed on July 24, 2001.
Destruction
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked
American Airlines Flight 11American Airlines Flight 11 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport...
and deliberately crashed it into the northern facade of the north tower at 08:46. Seventeen minutes later, a second team of terrorists crashed the similarly hijacked
United Airlines Flight 175United Airlines Flight 175 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts to Los Angeles International Airport, in California...
into the south tower. The damage caused to the north tower by Flight 11 destroyed any means of escape from above the impact zone, trapping 1,344 people. Although the south tower's floors of impact were lower, a smaller number, less than 700, were killed instantly or trapped, because evacuation of the south tower was ordered immediately after the north tower strike. At 9:59 a.m., the south tower
collapsedThe collapse of the World Trade Center occurred after the September 11 attacks. Each of the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City was hit by an airliner that had been hijacked by Al Qaeda operatives...
due to fire which caused steel structural elements, already weakened from the plane impact, to fail. The north tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m., after burning for approximately 102 minutes.
At 5:20 p.m. on September 11, 2001,
7 World Trade Center7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name "7 World Trade Center" has referred to two buildings: the original structure, completed in 1987, and the current structure...
collapsed due to uncontrolled fires causing structural failure. 3 World Trade Center, a Marriott hotel, was destroyed during the collapse of the two towers. The three remaining buildings in the WTC plaza sustained heavy damage from debris and were ultimately demolished. The
Deutsche Bank BuildingThe Deutsche Bank Building at 130 Liberty Street in New York City, United States, adjacent to the World Trade Center , opened in 1974 as Bankers Trust Plaza. The building was acquired by Deutsche Bank when it acquired Bankers Trust in 1998...
across
Liberty StreetLiberty Street is a street in New York City that stretches east-west from the middle of Lower Manhattan almost to the East River. It borders such sites as One Chase Manhattan Plaza, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, One Liberty Plaza, Liberty Plaza Park, the Deutsche Bank Building, the World...
from the World Trade Center complex was later condemned due to the uninhabitable toxic conditions inside; it is undergoing deconstruction. The
Borough of Manhattan Community CollegeFounded in 1963, Borough of Manhattan Community College, or BMCC is one of six two-year colleges within the City University of New York system and the only one in Manhattan. Originally, BMCC offered business-oriented and liberal arts degrees for those intending to enter the business world or...
's Fiterman Hall at 30
West BroadwayWest Broadway is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, separated into two parts by a park. The northern part begins at TriBeCa Park, near the intersection of Sixth Avenue, Walker Street and Beach Street in TriBeCa. It runs northbound as a one-way street past Canal Street...
was also condemned due to extensive damage in the attacks and is slated for
deconstructionIn the context of physical construction, deconstruction is the selective dismantlement of building components, specifically for re-use, recycling, and waste management. It differs from demolition where a site is cleared of its building by the most expedient means. Deconstruction has also been...
.
In the aftermath of the attacks, media reports suggested that tens of thousands might have been killed in the attacks, as on any given day upwards of 50,000 people could be inside the towers. Ultimately, 2,750 death certificates were filed relating to the 9/11 attacks, including one filed for Felicia Dunn-Jones, who was added to the official death toll in May 2007; Dunn-Jones died five months later from a lung condition linked to exposure to dust during the collapse of the World Trade Center. Cantor Fitzgerald L.P., an investment bank on the 101st–105th floors of One World Trade Center, lost 658 employees, considerably more than any other employer, while
Marsh & McLennan CompaniesMarsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. is a US-based global professional services and insurance brokerage firm. In 2007, it had over 57,000 employees and annual revenues of $12.069 billion. Marsh & McLennan Companies was ranked the 207th largest corporation in the United States by the 2007 Fortune 500...
, located immediately below Cantor Fitzgerald on floors 93–101 (the location of
Flight 11'sAmerican Airlines Flight 11 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, to Los Angeles International Airport...
impact), lost 295 employees, and 175 employees of Aon Corporation were killed. As well, 343 deaths were
New York City firefightersThe New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response to...
, 84 were Port Authority employees, of whom 37 were members of the
Port Authority Police DepartmentThe Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, or Port Authority Police Department , is a law enforcement agency in New York and New Jersey, the duties of which are to protect all facilities owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and to enforce state and city laws...
, and another 23 were
New York City Police DepartmentThe New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
officers. Of all the people who were still in the towers when they collapsed, only 20 were pulled out alive.
Rebuilding
The process of cleanup and recovery continued 24 hours a day over a period of eight months. Debris was transported from the
World Trade Center siteThe World Trade Center site sits on 16 acres in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The World Trade Center complex stood on the site until the September 11 attacks; Studio Daniel Libeskind, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Silverstein Properties, and the Lower Manhattan Development...
to
Fresh KillsFresh Kills is a stream and freshwater estuary in the western portion of the New York City borough of Staten Island. It is the site of the Fresh Kills Landfill, formerly New York City's principal landfill...
on
Staten IslandStaten Island is a borough of New York City in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, where it was further sifted. On May 30, 2002, a ceremony was held to officially mark the end of the cleanup efforts. In 2002, ground was broken on construction of a new
7 World Trade Center7 World Trade Center is a building in New York City located across from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The name "7 World Trade Center" has referred to two buildings: the original structure, completed in 1987, and the current structure...
building located just to the north of the main World Trade Center site. Since it was not part of the site master plan, Larry Silverstein was able to proceed without delay on the rebuilding of 7 World Trade Center which was completed and officially opened in May 2006. A temporary
PATH stationThe World Trade Center PATH station originally opened on July 19, 1909 as the Hudson Terminal. When the Hudson Terminal was torn down to make way for the World Trade Center, a new station was built, which opened in 1971...
at the World Trade Center opened in November 2003; it will be replaced by a permanent station designed by
Santiago CalatravaSantiago Calatrava Valls is an internationally recognized and award-winning Valencian Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zurich, Switzerland...
.
With the main World Trade Center site, numerous stakeholders were involved including Silverstein and the Port Authority which in turn meant that the Governor of New York State,
George PatakiGeorge Elmer Pataki is an American politician who was the 53rd Governor of New York serving three consecutive four-year terms from January 1, 1995 until December 31, 2006...
, had some authority. As well, the victims' families, people in the surrounding neighborhoods, Mayor
Michael BloombergMichael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. He was listed as the eighth-richest American, with a net worth of US $16 billion, in the Forbes 400 on September 17, 2008, making him the richest resident of New York City, ahead of David H. Koch...
and others wanted input. Governor Pataki established the
Lower Manhattan Development CorporationThe Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed after the September 11 attacks to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan....
(LMDC) in November 2001 as an official commission to oversee the rebuilding process. The LMDC held a competition to solicit possible designs for the site. The
Memory FoundationsMemory Foundations is the name given by Daniel Libeskind to his site plan for the World Trade Center, which was selected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to be the master plan for rebuilding at the World Trade Center site in New York City....
design by
Daniel LibeskindDaniel Libeskind, is an American architect, artist, and set designer of Polish-Jewish descent. He founded Studio Daniel Libeskind in 1989 with his wife, Nina, and is its principal design architect...
was chosen as the master plan for the World Trade Center site. The plan included the 1,776-foot (541 m) Freedom Tower (now known as
One World Trade Center) as well as a memorial and a number of other office towers. Out of the
World Trade Center Site Memorial CompetitionThe World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition was an open, international memorial contest, initiated by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation , as per the specifications of architect Daniel Libeskind, to design a World Trade Center Site Memorial on a portion of the World Trade Center site...
, a design by
Michael AradMichael Arad is an American architect who won the design competition for the World Trade Center Memorial in New York City in 2004.-Biography:...
and Peter Walker entitled
Reflecting Absence was selected in January 2004.
On March 13, 2006, workers arrived at the World Trade Center site to remove remaining debris and start surveying work. This marked the official start of construction of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, though not without controversy and concerns from some family members. In April 2006, the Port Authority and Larry Silverstein reached an agreement in which Silverstein ceded rights to develop the Freedom Tower and Tower Five in exchange for financing with Liberty Bonds for Towers Two, Three, and Four. On April 27, 2006, a ground-breaking ceremony was held for the Freedom Tower.
In May 2006, architects
Richard RogersRichard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside, CH, FRIBA, FCSD, is a British architect noted for his modernist and functionalist designs...
and
Fumihiko MakiFumihiko Maki is a Japanese architect and currently teaching at Keio University SFC. After studying at the University of Tokyo he moved to the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and then to Harvard Graduate School of Design...
were announced as the architects for Towers Three and Four, respectively. The final designs for Towers Two, Three and Four were unveiled on September 7, 2006. Tower Two, or
200 Greenwich Street200 Greenwich Street is the address for a new office building to be erected as part of the World Trade Center reconstruction in New York City. The building has also been referred to as Two World Trade Center and will be on the east side of Greenwich Street, across the street from the original...
, will have a roof height of 1,254 feet (382 m) and a 96-foot (29 m) tripod spire for a total of 1,350 feet (411 m). Tower Three, or
175 Greenwich Street175 Greenwich Street is the address for a new skyscraper approved for construction as part of the World Trade Center reconstruction in New York City...
will have a roof height of 1,155 feet (352 m) and an antennae height reaching 1,255 feet (383 m). Tower Four, or
150 Greenwich Street150 Greenwich Street is the address for a new skyscraper being erected as part of the World Trade Center reconstruction in New York City. The office building has also been referred to as Four World Trade Center and will be on the east side of Greenwich Street, across the street from the original...
, will have an overall height of 946 feet (288 m). On June 22, 2007 the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced that JP Morgan Chase will build
Tower 5Five World Trade Center, also referred to as 130 Liberty Street, is a proposed building to be located in New York City. It will be located on Site 5 of the new World Trade Center complex. If constructed, it will follow the demolition of the Deutsche Bank Building. In June 2007, it was announced...
, a 42-story building on Site 5 currently occupied by the Deutsche Bank Building, and
Kohn Pedersen FoxKohn Pedersen Fox Associates is an international architectural design firm located in New York, London and Shanghai providing urban design and master planning for public authorities and private companies. The firm's designs can be seen in commercial skyscrapers such as the Shanghai World Financial...
was selected as the architect for the building.
Controversy
The construction of 1 World Trade Center has been met with criticism, ranging from the design itself to the name change. New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg stated in 2003 that, "The Freedom Tower isn't going to be One World Trade Center, it's going to be the Freedom Tower." In 2005,
Donald TrumpDonald John Trump is an American business magnate, socialite, author and television personality. He is the Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, a US-based real-estate developer. Trump is also the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, which operates numerous casinos and hotels across the...
lashed out at the design of the then Freedom Tower, calling it, "a terrible design".
Popular culture
The World Trade Center was an iconic structure and has been featured in numerous films as well as appearing in many television shows, cartoons, comic books, video games and music videos. Portions of
GodspellGodspell, released in 1973, is the film adaptation of the Off-Broadway musical Godspell created by John-Michael Tebelak.Set in modern New York City, the film stars Victor Garber as Jesus and David Haskell as John the Baptist/Judas...
were filmed at the top of the World Trade Center as the building was nearing completion. A sequence in the Robert Redford movie
The Hot RockThe Hot Rock is a comic caper movie directed by Peter Yates, starring Robert Redford, George Segal and Moses Gunn. The film was based upon Donald E. Westlake's novel which introduced his long-running Dortmunder character....
filmed in Summer 1971 featured shots of a helicopter flying around the partially uncompleted towers (where you can actually see inside the construction at one point), The final scene of the 1976 film
King KongKing Kong is a 1976 American motion picture produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Guillermin. It is a remake of the 1933 classic King Kong, about how a giant ape is captured and imported to New York City for exhibition....
took place at the World Trade Center instead of the
Empire State BuildingThe Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion...
where the scene had taken place in the original film. The 1983 film
Trading PlacesTrading Places is a 1983 comedy film starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Lee Curtis. It was directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. It was produced by Aaron Russo...
was filmed outside the WTC, as well as on the
New York Board of TradeThe New York Board of Trade , renamed ICE Futures US in September of 2007, is a wholly owned subsidiary of IntercontinentalExchange . It is a physical commodity futures exchange located in New York City. It originated in 1870 as the New York Cotton Exchange...
floor at 4 WTC. Using a glider, Snake Plissken lands on the top of WTC 1 in the 1981 film
Escape from New YorkEscape from New York is a 1981 science fiction/action film directed and scored by John Carpenter. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Nick Castle. The film is set in the near future in a crime-ridden United States that has converted Manhattan Island in New York City into a maximum security prison...
.
The events surrounding the September 11 attacks were portrayed in several documentaries and movies, including two major motion pictures made in 2006:
Oliver StoneWilliam Oliver Stone is an American film director and screenwriter. Stone came to prominence as a director with a series of films about the Vietnam War, in which he had participated as an American infantry soldier, and his work continues to focus frequently on contemporary political and cultural...
's
World Trade CenterWorld Trade Center is a 2006 disaster film, directed by Oliver Stone and based on the September 11, 2001 attacks on the same-titled towers of New York City. The film stars Nicolas Cage, Michael Peña, Maria Bello, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Michael Shannon...
and
Paul GreengrassPaul Greengrass is an English writer and film director. He specialises in dramatisations of real-life events and is known for his signature use of hand-held cameras.-Biography:...
'
United 93United 93 is a 2006 film written, co-produced, and directed by Paul Greengrass that chronicles events aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked during the September 11, 2001 attacks...
. Several movies released shortly after 9/11 digitally erased the Twin Towers from skyline shots; one such was
Spider-ManSpider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. The first installment in the Spider-Man series, the film, directed by Sam Raimi and written by David Koepp, stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, and Willem Dafoe.The film begins with...
. , most networks airing reruns of popular television shows have chosen to leave the Twin Towers alone such as in establishing shots in
FriendsFriends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which premiered on NBC on September 22, 1994. The series revolved around a group of friends in the area of Manhattan, New York City, who occasionally live together and share living expenses. The series was produced by...
and in episodes of
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
.
Shots of the World Trade Center were removed from both of the opening sequences of HBO's
Sex and The CitySex and the City is an American cable television series. The original run of the show was broadcast on HBO from 1998 until 2004, for a total of six seasons....
and
The SopranosThe Sopranos is an American television drama series created and produced by David Chase. It premiered on the premium cable network HBO in the United States on January 10, 1999 and ended its original run of six seasons and 86 episodes on June 10, 2007. The show has also been broadcast on A&E in...
in episodes produced after the destruction of the buildings as a mark of respect for the victims of 9/11.
In the season finale of the
FoxThe Fox Broadcasting Company , commonly referred to as Fox , is an American television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, from 2004 to 2009 Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the 18–49 demographic...
series,
FringeFringe is an American science fiction television series co-created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. The series follows an FBI Fringe Division team based in Boston, Massachusetts under the supervision of Homeland Security...
, the World Trade Center is seen intact in a parallel universe of New York City.
See also
- 10048
- September 11 attacks
- World Trade Center site
The World Trade Center site sits on 16 acres in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The World Trade Center complex stood on the site until the September 11 attacks; Studio Daniel Libeskind, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Silverstein Properties, and the Lower Manhattan Development...
- Ground Zero
The term ground zero may be used to describe the point on the earth's surface where an explosion occurs...
- WTC Twin Towers 2
- Project Rebirth
Project Rebirth, Inc. is a 501 non-profit organization using time-lapse photography that is currently documenting the day-by-day rebuilding of the former World Trade Center site in New York City...
External links
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