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As a result, the major architectural players at ground zero - Mr. Libeskind, Mr. Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, David Childs, Mr. Arad and the Snohetta architects, to name the most obvious - have never sat down in a room together to discuss their growing concerns about the overall plan, let alone exchange ideas about how best to improve it.

This constitutes an enormous squandering of talent, as well as a total disregard for how the creative process unfolds. And it has essentially shut the public out of the process.

So far, such inflexibility has been justified by political calculations. Open discussion of what isn't working, and why, might slow the pace of rebuilding, the thinking goes, and send the wrong message to the world - as if indecision were somehow a sign of weakness. Given how the project has stumbled, that argument is looking more and more specious. And it ignores the fact that the city, and those of us who care about it, will have to live with the consequences of these decisions for decades.

Governor Pataki should take advantage of the most recent delays to take a big step back and rethink what has become a debased process. Planning should be open to intense public scrutiny. And by encouraging the architects to talk with one another and to the public they serve, he could finally take advantage of the talent that he has right under his nose.

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right wing real estate blog "curbed" exclaiming 'bout 29-45 million dollar asking prices for modules in the calatrava tower and thi$ guy is yakking about it. that and all the different hats that calatrava wears. so what.


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office beautiful

Known for her innovative space planning, Florence Knoll Bassett ("Shu" to her friends) recently designed an installation of her work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Since interviewing the legendary designer, I've become one of her many dedicated fans. Bassett defined the look for corporate interiors in the 1950s and profoundly influenced post-World War II design.

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Mr. Rampe's departure comes at a particularly sensitive moment for a rebuilding effort that has recently been plagued by bad news. The construction of the Freedom Tower, the site's most prominent structure, is months behind schedule, and faces even greater delays after the New York Police Department last month delivered a disturbing assessment of its security shortcomings. Larry Silverstein, the lead developer of the site, has signaled that he may need hundreds of millions of dollars from the government to address the security concerns.

The decision by the Wall Street firm of Goldman Sachs to shelve plans for building a headquarters near ground zero was another setback. And to this day, three and a half years after the destruction of the two towers, a number of the architects, engineers and designers involved in the rebuilding effort have complained privately that a lack of creativity and communication still besets the project.

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