Ground Zero Building, It's Back to Drawing Board
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Published: October 3, 2005
The practice of recycling buildings goes back millennia. But the World Trade Center project may claim a new distinction by recycling a structure that has not yet been built.
The Norwegian firm Snohetta was chosen last October to design the cultural building at ground zero to house the International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center.
Because Gov. George E. Pataki evicted the Freedom Center last week as too controversial, and the Drawing Center is looking for space elsewhere, state officials say that the "Snohetta building" will instead be used in conjunction with the underground memorial nearby, to tell the story of 9/11.
The building was custom designed for its original tenants, however, and it is unclear how much the new version will resemble the renderings that have been in the public eye since May.
"Of course, we'll be engaging in a design process to be sure the building meets the needs of its new program," said Stefan Pryor, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is overseeing cultural and memorial planning at the trade center site. "But its appearance - especially in terms of the signature elements - will be substantially similar. And the building will remain spectacular."
It will be at least 30 percent smaller than the 250,000-square-foot design that was unveiled five months ago, Mr. Pryor said. He said it was too early to tell which signature elements would survive: the broad entry ramp, the way the building seems to float over the plaza, the prismatic facade studded with glass, the light court at the center.
The executive director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Fredric M. Bell, put in a word for the ascending ramp. He said it would connect an appropriately "skyward-pointing" element to the largely underground memorial complex.
Others despaired of salvaging anything from the project.
"The beautiful Snohetta-designed building is now a relic - a design without a program or a purpose," Agnes Gund, president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art, said on Thursday, in the letter she wrote resigning from the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation to protest the Freedom Center's eviction. Her comment carries particular weight, since Ms. Gund was a member of the panel that chose Snohetta.
Monica Iken, another board member of the foundation, which will build and own the memorial and cultural buildings, said in an e-mail message, "There is no reason from a cost or time standpoint that they could not reconsider the look and location of that building."
Ms. Iken said the architects should determine how many visitors can be expected, then account for 9/11 artifacts like the twin tower columns, stored in Hangar 17 at Kennedy Airport.
Ms. Iken, whose husband, Michael Iken, was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, said the Snohetta building was "beautiful in some ways." But she said, "It blocks the views of the memorial and important sight lines and vistas that would help tie the whole area together."
In addition, Ms. Iken said, planners should consider moving the cultural building to the corner of West and Liberty Streets, where it was shown in an early version of Michael Arad's design for the memorial.
There seems to be no chance of that, however.
The building belongs at the northeast corner of the memorial quadrant in part because it will house the visitors center, Mr. Pryor said, and most visitors will approach from that direction. It also was placed there, he said, because the architect Daniel Libeskind called for it in his master plan as a buffer between the memorial and the city. At that location, the building will also serve the unglamorous but essential role of containing, and effectively hiding, the huge ventilation shafts from the PATH terminal.
"Our desire," said Craig Dykers, a founding partner of Snohetta, "has always been to create a building that respects the memorial setting, protects it from its immediate urban surroundings and provides a place where visitors to and from this important location can find a place of transition. This will remain the case whatever institution remains present in the building."
And Snohetta remains on contract with the development corporation.
"The L.M.D.C. have stated clearly to us that they are dedicated to building a life-affirming, interactive and invigorating facility," Mr. Dykers said on Friday in an e-mail message, "and we therefore remain committed to proceeding."
|
By DAVID W. DUNLAP
Published: October 3, 2005
The practice of recycling buildings goes back millennia. But the World Trade Center project may claim a new distinction by recycling a structure that has not yet been built.
The Norwegian firm Snohetta was chosen last October to design the cultural building at ground zero to house the International Freedom Center and the Drawing Center.
Because Gov. George E. Pataki evicted the Freedom Center last week as too controversial, and the Drawing Center is looking for space elsewhere, state officials say that the "Snohetta building" will instead be used in conjunction with the underground memorial nearby, to tell the story of 9/11.
The building was custom designed for its original tenants, however, and it is unclear how much the new version will resemble the renderings that have been in the public eye since May.
"Of course, we'll be engaging in a design process to be sure the building meets the needs of its new program," said Stefan Pryor, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is overseeing cultural and memorial planning at the trade center site. "But its appearance - especially in terms of the signature elements - will be substantially similar. And the building will remain spectacular."
It will be at least 30 percent smaller than the 250,000-square-foot design that was unveiled five months ago, Mr. Pryor said. He said it was too early to tell which signature elements would survive: the broad entry ramp, the way the building seems to float over the plaza, the prismatic facade studded with glass, the light court at the center.
The executive director of the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects, Fredric M. Bell, put in a word for the ascending ramp. He said it would connect an appropriately "skyward-pointing" element to the largely underground memorial complex.
Others despaired of salvaging anything from the project.
"The beautiful Snohetta-designed building is now a relic - a design without a program or a purpose," Agnes Gund, president emerita of the Museum of Modern Art, said on Thursday, in the letter she wrote resigning from the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation to protest the Freedom Center's eviction. Her comment carries particular weight, since Ms. Gund was a member of the panel that chose Snohetta.
Monica Iken, another board member of the foundation, which will build and own the memorial and cultural buildings, said in an e-mail message, "There is no reason from a cost or time standpoint that they could not reconsider the look and location of that building."
Ms. Iken said the architects should determine how many visitors can be expected, then account for 9/11 artifacts like the twin tower columns, stored in Hangar 17 at Kennedy Airport.
Ms. Iken, whose husband, Michael Iken, was killed on Sept. 11, 2001, said the Snohetta building was "beautiful in some ways." But she said, "It blocks the views of the memorial and important sight lines and vistas that would help tie the whole area together."
In addition, Ms. Iken said, planners should consider moving the cultural building to the corner of West and Liberty Streets, where it was shown in an early version of Michael Arad's design for the memorial.
There seems to be no chance of that, however.
The building belongs at the northeast corner of the memorial quadrant in part because it will house the visitors center, Mr. Pryor said, and most visitors will approach from that direction. It also was placed there, he said, because the architect Daniel Libeskind called for it in his master plan as a buffer between the memorial and the city. At that location, the building will also serve the unglamorous but essential role of containing, and effectively hiding, the huge ventilation shafts from the PATH terminal.
"Our desire," said Craig Dykers, a founding partner of Snohetta, "has always been to create a building that respects the memorial setting, protects it from its immediate urban surroundings and provides a place where visitors to and from this important location can find a place of transition. This will remain the case whatever institution remains present in the building."
And Snohetta remains on contract with the development corporation.
"The L.M.D.C. have stated clearly to us that they are dedicated to building a life-affirming, interactive and invigorating facility," Mr. Dykers said on Friday in an e-mail message, "and we therefore remain committed to proceeding."
- bill 10-03-2005 8:32 pm