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Buildings
Ground Zero Plan Expected Soon, Amid Conflicts
enr.construction.com
(12/30/2002)- (1/06/2003)
By Nadine
M. Post
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Design:
Peterson/Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design
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By February, officials charged with
redevelopment of the World Trade Center expect to release
a recommended land-use plan. But New York State’s Lower
Manhattan Development Corp. and the owner of the 16-acre site,
the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, appear to be
on different pages about how to proceed with their mission
to craft a plan. Sources say LMDC intends to select one of
the nine design schemes recently unveiled by seven teams that
participated in an LMDC site design study. But apparently
the port authority, which is developing a separate plan, wants
to distill the best ideas from the schemes rather than select
one.
Repeated attempts to get an official
response from LMDC failed, but at a Dec. 18 press conference
during which the studies were unveiled, a spokesman for the
port authority, Allen Morrison, said, "This is not a
beauty contest." He added that there will not be one
winner selected. Stan Eckstut of Ehrenkrantz Eckstut &
Kuhn, New York City, is creating a plan for the port authority.
No one seems to know how the differences
will be resolved but everyone is guessing. No matter the resolution,
by January’s end LMDC is scheduled to seek approval of
a land-use plan from the boards of LMDC and the port authority.
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Design:
Studio Daniel Libeskind, Berlin, Germany
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The nine schemes–one team offered
three–were unveiled six days after New York City Mayor
Michael R. Bloomberg laid out a broader, $10.6-billion plan
to revitalize an ailing lower Manhattan, struggling even more
since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the WTC. Bloomberg’s
vision emphasizes linking mass transit and commuter rails
and for "one-seat" rides to the region’s three
international airports. The mayor also envisions 10,000 new
housing units, of which 20% would be "affordable;"
cultural institutions; a more accessible waterfront and a
tax-incentive zone to draw in foreign multinational corporations.
Of the funds, $8.8 billion would be
for infrastructure improvements. Of that, $5.9 billion would
be from the federal government. Proceeds from real estate
development rights would add to the coffers, says the mayor.
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Design:
Foster and Partners, London, England
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Though there are still questions of
permitting and financing, New York New Visions, a volunteer
coalition of 21 design and planning organizations advising
LMDC, supports the mayor’s vision. It establishes "the
context for an integrated World Trade Center plan, up to now
the missing piece in the puzzle," says a statement by
Mark Ginsburg, NYNV’s co-chair and a principal of the
local Curtis + Ginsberg Architects.
Referring to the WTC schemes as a whole,
Hugh Hardy, chair of the NYNV plan review task force evaluating
the studies for LMDC and founding partner of Hardy Holzman
Pfeiffer Associates, New York City, said in a NYNV statement,
"The proposals succeed in highlighting for public discussion
a series of thoughtful responses to critical design issues."
These issues include "different methods of balancing
memorialization with commercial development; approaches to
the site as a stand-alone icon or as a careful fit with the
surrounding community; [the way to] achieve innovative open
space with maximum accessibility to the public; how to integrate
transit, auto and pedestrian flow into a constrained site;
and how to plan for feasible phasing in a project without
a defined program."
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Design:
Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey
and Steven Holl
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A spokesman for Larry Silverstein, president
of WTC leaseholder Silverstein Properties Inc., New York City,
says Silverstein found the models "architecturally ambitious,
inspirational" and "reflecting a great deal of creativity
and bold imagination." Silverstein is participating in
developing the final plan.
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Design:
United Architects
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The seven teams drew talent from 34
firms. They are: Studio Daniel Libeskind; Foster and Partners;
Richard Meier & Partners Architects, Eisenman Architects,
Gwathmey Siegel & Associates and Steven Holl Architects;
Think, which offered three schemes and includes Shigeru Ban
Artchitects + Dean Maltz, Frederic Schwartz Architects, Ken
Smith Landscape Architect and Rafael Vinoly Architects; United
Architects, including Greg Lynn FORM, Kevin Kennon Architect,
Reiser+Umemotot RUR Architecture UN Studio and several other
firms; Peterson/Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design;
and SOM/ SANAA.
The models are on display at the rebuilt
Winter Garden, across the street from the WTC site, until
Feb. 2. The schemes are also posted on line at www.RenewNYC.com
and www.LowerManhattan.info, where comments can be submitted.
To further gather reaction to the schemes, LMDC is holding
a public meeting on Jan. 13 at Pace University.
A public comment period will follow
the February release of the land-use plan. Next spring, LMDC
plans to hold an international design competition for the
WTC memorial. A jury, as yet not designated, is scheduled
to select a memorial design by September.
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Design:
Think
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Design:
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, New York City
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