Buildings
WTC Design Guidelines May Finally Move Forward
(archrecord.construction.com - 05/04/2006)
By Sam
Lubell
Daniel Libeskind’s commercial-design
guidelines for the World Trade Center site, which were released
in draft form over two years ago, have yet to be formally
approved by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
(PA) or the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC),
which are overseeing construction on the site. The lack of
approval has drawn the ire of many in New York’s planning
and design community. Yet now that the contentious negotiations
between developer Larry Silverstein and the PA have been settled,
the guidelines may finally get their due. According to PA
spokesperson Steve Coleman, “the board could conceivably
vote on them in May or June.” LMDC communications director
Kori-Ann Taylor commented, “We are in the final stages
of formulating design guidelines consistent with recent developments
at the WTC site and we will adopt and enact them in the near
future.”
Liebeskind’s draft guidelines “describe
the form, character, and standards of development that will
support the master plan." Some of the topics covered
by their 10 chapters include overall site development, open
space guidelines, and building design. Without formal approval,
though, the guidelines have carried no official weight, and
there is no scheme to control how seven buildings under design
by seven superstar firms will relate to each other.
Coleman says the draft guidelines have
been “refined” since they were originally released.
They would be released to the public after approval, he adds.
While it is unclear whether the guidelines
will actually be approved soon, their formal release could,
depending on their content, be a relief to designers and activists
in New York, who have long been concerned that little attention
had been paid to establishing connections between the various
elements on the site. But a final verdict can’t be made
until after they have been formally approved.
Margaret Helfand, FAIA, a New York architect
and a member of New York New Visions, a group of designers
advocating for design excellence in Lower Manhattan, says
the PA has been acting “more like a private developer
than in the private interest.” Because the PA is not
obligated to address the public’s concerns through a
review process she does worry about what the final guidelines
will be like, saying, “they could go in any direction.”
She also has concerns about the placement of a mall at the
base of one of the towers that will stand near the Memorial,
and the planned closure of several streets in the area for
security purposes.
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