A Tale of Two Rebuilding Efforts at Ground Zero
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A Tale of Two Rebuilding Efforts at Ground Zero
Eight years after the Twin Towers fell, a 10-foot-tall, barbed-wire fence still surrounds the 16-acre void in the heart of Lower Manhattan.
Photo © Joe Woolhead
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A Tale of Two Rebuilding Efforts at Ground Zero
Squabbles over designs and funding have caused severe construction delays. With the exception of the SOM-designed 7 WTC, a 52-story tower completed in 2006, the only discernible progress has happened below street level, on a museum and memorial planned for the site.
Photo © Joe Woolhead
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A Tale of Two Rebuilding Efforts at Ground Zero
One World Trade Center, the 102-story skyscraper by SOM, is famously off-schedule and over-budget. Last fall, recognizing the delays, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the entire WTC site, recalibrated the skyscraper’s construction time line. It should now be finished by 2013.
Photo © Joe Woolhead
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A Tale of Two Rebuilding Efforts at Ground Zero
Headway is being made on the 30,000-square-foot 9/11 museum, which will feature exhibits like the “last beam standing,” a 40-foot-tall remnant that recently was lowered into place. Construction is farthest along on the 9/11 memorial, whose pools, ringed by plaques with victims’ names, will feature inward-falling cascades. Designed by Michael Arad and Peter Walker, the memorial had 75 percent of its steel installed and 15 percent of its concrete poured by August.
Photo © Joe Woolhead
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A Tale of Two Rebuilding Efforts at Ground Zero
Architect Michael Arad praised the steady pace of the memorial construction. “It’s very important that the project be completed on time,” Arad says. “I think the 10-year anniversary will be an intense moment of reflection for everybody in this country.
Photo © Joe Woolhead
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