When the twin towers collapsed in New York City on 11 September 2001, the world watched with shock. The World Trade Center was a global icon, a symbol of modern achievement as well as a high-functioning office hub that anchored one of the most famous cities in the world. Redeveloping the site presented enormous psychological, historical and financial challenges, and there were moments when it seemed as if recovery would be impossible. Yet the Ground Zero Master Plan ultimately surmounted all obstacles, both practical and emotional. Project teams answered destruction with creation, building an extraordinary new memorial and gleaming new skyscrapers that not only breathed new life and energy into one of Manhattan's most significant neighborhoods but came to symbolize the resilience of human hope.
All eyes were on the Ground Zero site from the beginning, with varied local and national policymakers often at odds about priorities and processes. Architect Daniel Libeskind, founder of Studio Libeskind and the master planner for the entire 10-million-square-foot (929,030-square-meter) complex, initially clashed with site developer Larry Silverstein and tower designer David Childs, chairman emeritus of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, on the creative vision. But ultimately the myriad stakeholders found a way, through years of iterations and compromises, to transform the hollow footprints of the twin towers into hallowed spaces.
The signature US$3.8 billion One World Trade Center, completed in 2014, marked a transition into a new post-9/11 world. It was among the first U.S. skyscrapers to incorporate more rigorous safety standards, including improved sprinkler systems, faster elevators and better emergency exit routes. The complementary US$700 million National September 11 Memorial & Museum also made its debut in 2014, after lead contractor Lendlease overcame delays caused by blizzards and hurricane flooding. Although the original plan neglected to single out those who saved lives, the site added a memorial for rescue and recovery workers in 2019.
“Millions of people from around the world will come to this site and see what we've accomplished,” Neil Clarke, senior project manager and vice president of Lendlease, told PM Network in 2015. “It was probably the toughest project I've ever worked on, but it was an honor to be part of it.”
TOP PHOTO COURTESY OF REX ARCHITECTURE. MUSEUM PHOTO COURTESY NATIONAL
SEPTEMBER 11 MEMORIAL & MUSEUM. STAIRCASE PHOTO BY GARY HERSHORN/GETTY IMAGES
1. 1,776 feet (541.3 meters): The height of One World Trade Center is a nod to the year the United States was founded. Architect Daniel Libeskind read the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and works by Walt Whitman and Herman Melville as inspiration for his design.
2. Sound decisions: The foundations of the original two towers remain as sunken memorial fountains. The use of water helps create an acoustical barrier between the noise of the city and the reflective quiet of the public memorial space.
3. Deep dive: The 186-foot (57-meter) base of One World Trade Center contains enough concrete to fill 60 Olympic-size swimming pools.
4. Strong foundations: The slurry wall from the original towers remains exposed within the site's memorial museum. Had the existing wall crumbled with the rest of the towers, the surrounding water table could have flooded the city's subway system.
5. Shared vision: With a sense that no single building could replace the twin towers, the new Ground Zero emphasizes shared spaces, evoking the connection of the city's streets and subways.
6. Leaving a mark: The dimensions of One World Trade Center's base replicate those of the 204-square-foot (19-square-meter) footprints of the original twin towers.
7. Easier access: One World Trade Center's stair widths were increased from the standard 44 inches to 72 inches (1.1 meters to 1.8 meters) to reduce congestion in an evacuation. Another pressurized stairway and a water-resistant elevator are restricted for first-responder use.
PERSONAL INFLUENCE
As an aspiring architect, I always admired the original World Trade Center as a U.S. icon. But when I set foot on the highest floor of the north tower before Christmas Eve of 1993, I had a revelation. It made me wonder about the hundreds of risks that construction workers had to face. The possibilities amazed me—and drew me to project management.
Sadly, I was in New York when the magnificent twin towers crumbled after the 11 September 2001 terror attacks. The impossible happened before our very eyes, and all that was left—besides rubble, pain and sorrow—were lots of “what ifs.” This tragedy drove home the value and importance of defining risks from the start—no matter the size of the project, the level of impact or the likelihood of its occurrence. This is the lesson learned of the century, for so many reasons.
—Edgar Bonilla Torres, PMP, project manager, Heliosolar, Bogotá, Colombia