2002 December

One liner: “##” Summary: Simplistic, rectilinear shapes created from two groups of three towers at right angles to each other and linked by bridges. In addition to the new towers, there is a proposal for landscaped piers representing shadows form the original towers. Multiple memorials are constructed at ground level and in the new buildings. Plus: The pier proposal is very simple and elegant. Being the same size as the original towers they would allow their scale to be grasped. Minus: The towers are simple without the elegant simplicity of the originals that made them so iconic. The ‘multiple memorials’ idea is pointless. The cantilevered gardens/balconies would be prohibitively expensive, would disappear from the working drawings and would therefore change the design altogether.

The designs for the WTC site are out, its taken a day to digest all the proposals. The bad news: they are all either mediocre or unbuildable. The good news: the architects themselves are not all mediocre and the eventual buildings will be nothing like the original competition entries. The favorite appears to be Foster. I have some knowledge of the way the Foster office operates, since I used to work there when I was an architect. If he wins he will change the design entirely, just as he did for the Hong Kong Shanghai Bank’s headquarters in Hong Kong, the skyscraper which made his name. I would guess that the competition entry was largely conceived by others in the office (possibly Ken Shuttleworth), but if it wins Foster will want to get more involved, as it is such a high profile scheme.