The Roster of Ground Zero Architects Grows

[Kris]

October 1, 2003

The Roster of Ground Zero Architects Grows

By DAVID W. DUNLAP

Three celebrated architects — including Norman Foster, who offered his own vision last year of twin towers rising from ground zero — were added yesterday to the growing roster of international designers working on the World Trade Center site.

Lord Foster, of London, Jean Nouvel of Paris and Fumihiko Maki of Tokyo joined Daniel Libeskind, the master planner, and David M. Childs and T. J. Gottesdiener of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which will design the first, and tallest, building, Freedom Tower, with Mr. Libeskind. Larry A. Silverstein, who chose all but Mr. Libeskind, said, "They're the best in the world."

It was an impressive array of architectural celebrity. But their involvement raises the question of whose aesthetic vision will prevail and whether it is possible to build distinctive towers that bear the idiosyncratic hand of famous designers within a coherent master plan.

In addition to the architects who gathered with Mr. Silverstein, Santiago Calatrava of Spain is working on the new transit hub with DMJM & Harris and the STV Group. A memorial design has yet to be chosen.

Mr. Silverstein described the group as "one massive collaborative effort." Mr. Libeskind professed his pleasure at what he called an "incredible day."

He had anticipated the designation of other architects for a number of buildings at the site. "It requires a heterogeneous and interesting development," he said recently.

Heterogeneity would seem to be guaranteed in the arrangement described by Mr. Silverstein. "Each architect will design his own high-rise building and Dan will collaborate on each of them," he said.

Only five days ago, Mr. Silverstein suffered a setback in his legal battle with insurers over the amount of the settlement for the Sept. 11, 2001, attack; a sum that will finance redevelopment. Whether the payout is $7 billion or $3.5 billion turns on whether the attack is construed as two discrete events or one.

Asked whether yesterday's announcement was meant to bolster his public image as the best possible developer of the trade center, Mr. Silverstein said the meeting with the architects had been scheduled weeks ago. He said he was confident he would prevail when the legal case went to a jury.

One of the firms chosen by Mr. Silverstein, Foster & Partners, had competed last year with Mr. Libeskind for designation as overall site planner. Among its other projects, the firm designed the Hearst Corporation headquarters being built at Eighth Avenue and 57th Street.

Lord Foster said yesterday that he would "start from scratch" on his trade center design. "You can only have one master plan," he said.

Ateliers Jean Nouvel has designed apartment buildings in the meatpacking district and in SoHo.

Maki & Associates is working on a building at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Maki won the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1993.


Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

[Kris]

Fumihiko Maki (http://www.pritzkerprize.com/maki2.htm)

[Kris]

Trio to Design Office Towers

'World-class' architects picked for WTC buildings

By Katia Hetter
STAFF WRITER

October 1, 2003

World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein named a trio of renowned architects yesterday - including Lord Norman Foster, who tried for the main Twin Towers site design - to create designs for the five office buildings at Ground Zero.

British architect Foster, Japanese architect Fumihiko Maki and French architect Jean Nouvel will work with Silverstein architect David Childs, with Manhattan-based Skidmore, Owings and Merrill.

Childs is designing the 1,776-foot-tall Freedom Tower in collaboration with trade center master planner Daniel Libeskind. Childs also designed 7 World Trade Center, being built just north of the site.

"This is a group of world-class architects - they're the best in the world, and in our judgment, the only architects to choose to execute the brilliant master plan done by Daniel Libeskind," said Silverstein, speaking after the architects' first joint meeting at his midtown office. "This is truly a unique opportunity to conceive and to create the best that architecture can devise for the new World Trade Center."

Each architect will design at least one of the five office buildings in the master plan, working with Libeskind to ensure their designs match his vision for the site, Silverstein said. It's not clear who will design which building yet. Nor was it clear if Libeskind, who has never designed an office tower and wants that chance at Ground Zero, will get it. Asked yesterday if he would design one of the office buildings, he said, "I sure hope so."

Frederic Bell, executive director of the American Institute of Architects New York chapter, applauded Silverstein's choices.

"It was always clear from the beginning in the Libeskind proposal that other architects would be designing buildings, and these are among the best architects in the world," Bell said.

Foster said his failed trade center proposal, known for its "kissing" towers, will not influence his design of an individual building.

"We start from scratch," said Foster, who is well known for his skyscraper designs. They include the new Hearst Tower to be built in midtown, the Commerzbank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, and HSBC headquarters in London and Hong Kong. His other works include the Great Court of the British Museum, the new Hong Kong International Airport, the Millennium Bridge in London and the new German Parliament in Berlin.

Maki's work includes the Asahi broadcast headquarters in Tokyo and the Rolex Toyocho Building in Tokyo.

Nouvel's work includes the Cartier Foundation headquarters in Paris, the Arab World Institute in Paris, and the Lyon opera house in France.


Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

[NoyokA]

Nouvel and Maki have as little expierence in high-rise design as Libeskind. But as far as personal preferences go, these architects are great!

[Fabb]

Nouvel and Maki have as little expierence in high-rise design as Libeskind.

Not really.
To quote Phil on another forum :


Nouvel Designed not only the Tour Sans fins, but also Caretta Shiodome in Tokyo (2002) , Tower1 in frankfurt (approved) , and Torre Agbar (UC in Barcelona).

[NoyokA]

Alright smart ass.

Maki has as little expierence in high-rise design as Libeskind. But as far as personal preferences go, he is a great architect.

In addition Foster and Nouvel who do have high-rise expierences are awesome as well!

Silverstein is quite the little architectural patron.

[NYatKNIGHT]

We ought to have a nice collection of buildings at WTC. Exciting development! Aren't there four new towers to design? How will they decide who gets what? Buildings 3 and 4 are the closest in height (I think) and proximity - only the Cortland St. galleria separates them. I wonder if they will be designed together.

[dbhstockton]

There's no pranks for half-way to April Fool's, is there? Can they pull this off with making the site look like an avant-garde theme park?

Jean Nouvel:
http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1346
http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=455

http://images.zwire.com/local/Z/Zwire1840/zwire/images/ACF6CB.gif

http://www.archiseek.com/guides/france/paris/images/institut_du_monde_arabe_place_lge.jpg

Fumihiko Maki:

http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1255

http://www.uia-architectes.org/image/JPEG/medorf.JPG
http://www.arquinauta.com/x/arquitectos/img/maki2.jpg http://www.sztuka-architektury.pl/files/1_16.jpg

[JMGarcia]

They've managed to pull off Canary Wharf fairly well but there it has been all the "corporate" stars like Pelli and SOM etc.

Foster seems to be the middle ground but I think that he will indulge himself at the WTC with one of his more forward thinking buildings.

I don't think Silverstein or the PA really has a clue about architecture but they've learned really fast that they can hide behind an architects "star power" very effectively. Libeskind has taken a lot of heat for their decisions.

[DougGold]

Trio to Design Office Towers

Childs is designing the 1,776-foot-tall Freedom Tower in collaboration with trade center master planner Daniel Libeskind. Childs also designed 7 World Trade Center, being built just north of the site.



Why are they still referring to it as being 1,776-foot-tall? I thought it was raised to 2,100-feet-tall.

[NyC MaNiAc]

The Public has come to know it as such. I believe the roof is now 1776 and the Spire will raise the height to 2100.

Is the Height Change even Official?

[Freedom Tower]

It should be, it was written in that LMDC pdf file. I sure hope it is. 1776 feet to the roof and 2100 feet to the spire is great!

Also, it's extremely exciting to have all these great architects working on the site. I'm sure each one wants to make their particular building look better than anyone elses, which should make all of them great. I can't wait to see the final designs. And then of course I can't wait until they get built, but one step at a time.

[TonyO]

It is very justified that Foster be asked to design a tower. I think that it will be interesting to see how integrated each others' designs will be. There has to be something that links them visually besides the 'stepped' heights.

[Fabb]

Or not.
It could be the anti-Rockefeller center.

[Zzed]

Okay so Libeskind and Childs are designing the Freedom Tower (oh 2100 feet of joy) that leaves four buildings: Foster gets one, Nouvel another and Maki one more. hmm three plus one has been four for a long time, i wonder who will have the last one.

compromise often leads to mediocrity

[JMGarcia]

Actually Childs has 2 if you count 7 WTC. Plus, there's still the 5th tower (like you mentioned) plus the museum and the cultural center/performance venue. So it looks like 3 building might still be up for grabs.

Of course the memorial is being chosen by competition as we speak.

[Harmonicaman]

...and an architect leaves:

From Newsday.com -

LMDC Member Quits, Foresees Survival of Plan

By Katia Hetter
STAFF WRITER

October 4, 2003

Billie Tsien, the only architect serving on the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. board, predicted Friday that the "bones" of architect Daniel Libeskind's winning plan for the World Trade Center site would survive the long journey to construction, even as she resigned from the board.

Tsien, who has her own architecture firm with husband Tod Williams, said that the plan would probably be somewhat altered "because things change over time." It could take more than a decade to build the complex of five office buildings, museum, memorial space and transit hub.

Libeskind and wife Nina "are very, very strong," Tsien said. "I believe the bones and structure of what they designed will be intact."

Tsien, architect of the well-reviewed American Folk Art Museum in Manhattan, becomes the fifth board member to resign from LMDC's board. She was preceded out by former Port Authority chairman Lewis Eisenberg, Merrill Lynch head Stanley O'Neal, attorney Howard Wilson and Carver Federal Savings Bank head Deborah C. Wright.

"Ms. Tsien made great contributions to the LMDC board, sharing her architectural vision for the site and her invaluable expertise," said LMDC president Kevin Rampe. "We wish Ms. Tsien luck in her future endeavors and thank her for her service."

Known for fighting for excellence in architecture, Tsien encouraged her colleagues in the profession to critique the LMDC's first round of the six badly reviewed plans. Friday, she said her work on the board was done and applauded the increasing importance of architecture in the city's everyday life.

"People in New York City have really embraced the importance of architecture and its ability to represent the aspirations of the city, and I don't think that was part of the equation before," she said. "We've gone beyond a symbol of what happened to a belief that great architecture can be a part of life rather than being just a symbol of what happened."

An appointee of Mayor Michael Bloomberg to the LMDC board, Tsien said she won't miss the politics of redeveloping lower Manhattan.

"This was a situation that has a lot to do with politics, re-election and promises to people, that doesn't have much to do with the rules that rule my world," she said. "I think I've done what I can do [at LMDC] and I'd rather be building buildings."

Her current projects include designs for three New York City public school libraries, the University of California at Berkeley's East Asian studies library, University of Pennsylvania laboratory and an addition to a previous work, the Phoenix Art Museum.


Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

[Kris]

The Architecture of Fumihiko Maki (http://www.arcspace.com/books/maki/index.htm)

[Zzed]

The Architecture of Fumihiko Maki (http://www.arcspace.com/books/maki/index.htm)

i'm praying that he's not allowed to destroy another exterior; his interiors are delightful.

[Kris]

www.maki-and-associates.co.jp

[MrShakespeare]

I wonder why Norman Foster did not attend?

...From yesterday's Wall Street Journal... 2/11/04

Forging On

All eyes may be on the World Trade Center insurance trial, but that hasn't stopped officials from planning as if the massive rebuilding project is on the fast track.

Tokyo architect Fumihiko Maki and Paris architect Jean Nouvel met recently with developer Larry Silverstein and an official of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency handling the rebuilding process. Also in attendance was David M. Childs of Skidmore Owings & Merrill, architect of the Freedom Tower, the first building planned for the site.

Daniel Libeskind, responsible for the World Trade Center master plan, wasn't at the meeting. His wife and business manager, Nina Libeskind, said they didn't "know anything about it."

Meanwhile, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, has selected Jones Lang LaSalle to provide real-estate advisory services to the bi-state agency. The services are expected to include advising the agency on developing retail space at the site. Anthony R. Coscia, the authority's chairman, says "it's obviously a complicated piece of real estate, and the Port Authority has a number of interests in that transaction." He discounted the notion that the role would include help in negotiating with Mr. Silverstein on leasing 800,000 square feet the authority previously agreed to take in the Freedom Tower.

Peter Riguardi, president of Jones Lang LaSalle's New York operations, declined to comment on the three-year deal.

--Alex Frangos

[Kris]

Maki Highrise (http://www.maki-and-associates.co.jp/html/works/yit_e.htm)

Maki's competition entry for the new European Central Bank premises:

http://www.new-ecb-premises.com/3-photos-design_phase1/models_gross/154.jpg

www.new-ecb-premises.com