1 World Trade Center Offers the Best View in the Western Hemisphere
By Penny on Mar 11, 2014
Image via TIME's interactive viewer
There is hardly a more recognizable date than 9/11; smeared forever by the tragic events and subsequent political consequences. Not as well known, the date construction of the 1 World Trade Centre (1 WTC) commenced marked an important moment in history that will symbolize resilience, memorability, and courage for New Yorkers and sympathizers worldwide.
Four years and 228 days after the attacks, on April 27, 2006, 1 WTC, the project that emblematically restores New York City, finally got started. Hindered by the controversial challenges of the project, contributors knew it would be of utmost importance to develop a building that would be considered a “public response to 9/11,” while maintaining value to its financial backers, utility for neighbours and safety for occupants.
“It was meant to be all things to all people,” said Christopher Ward, who was the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. “It was going to answer every question that it raised. Was it an answer to the terrorists? Was the market back? Was New York going to be strong? That’s what was really holding up progress.”
From an architectural perspective, the building was designed to be “distinctive and concise” in order to accurately reflect the dynamic culture of its surroundings. Composed of eight isosceles triangles, the exterior view ascends from a square into an octagon and then into another square, turned 45 degrees from the lower one. The effect is a one-of-a-kind, twisting appearance that ends in a spire, made from the union of glass triangles. The building is the third tallest building in the world, reaching 1,776 feet (the year the U.S. adopted the Declaration of Independence). With a view that is indisputably the best in the city, TIME captures the breathtaking splendor of it all in their exclusive collection of prints that are available for order here.
From a structural perspective, one of the greatest challenges was building around the PATH train that connects New York to New Jersey. Planning how to adequately move forward was an 18-month process, which eventually led to hands-on construction - meaning, without heavy machinery.
In 2007, even though it didn’t appear to be much progress to on-looking pedestrians, the crew had set up 805 tons of steel around the perimeter of the site as columns. These 30 to 56 foot slabs of steel were produced at a Luxembourg plant known for creating the heaviest I-beams in the world, but once they reached U.S. grounds, they were reinforced by steel plates that increased their weight to 70 tons each.
“The thing that most frustrated me in the early years was when people would say, ‘They’re not doing anything,’” says Marc Becker, Tishman’s deputy general superintendent. “No one knew the magnitude of the below-grade structure.”
Exceeding both the existing schedules and financial budgets, former Port Authority director who took over the agency in 2008, Ward, publically announced that though the original estimates were $1.5 billion, the final project would cost closer to $3.1 billion (which was eventually raised to $3.9 billion).
After a significant push from Ward, which included the extension of workday hours, the project was finally ready to install 24 gigantic steel supercolumns that would form the above ground base of the tower. By 2009, onlookers finally felt like progress was being made.
A project of this magnitude requires the cooperation of experts in window installation, electricity, concrete, carpenters, and of course, the ironworkers who are in charge of the assembly of giant, weighty beams using their physical strength on foot and by hand. Commended for their dedication, TIME reveals that many of these workers were on-site seven days a week, for 10 hour days, some who even worked 50 consecutive days.
Most striking of all the accounts from crew members, are the recollections from Port Authority’s director of construction for the site, Steve Plate, who remembers finding memorabilia that would emotionally remind the crew of why they were working on 1 WTC.
“Literally the first thing — and I don’t exaggerate by saying the first thing — we were digging and we found human remains that were missed,” said Plate. Concealed for nearly half a decade, remains which included shoes, wallets and other debris were recovered from beneath the collapsed towers.
Standing tall, this 3.5 million square foot tower represents forward motion while memorializing the past. “This is going to define New York,” said Kevin Murphy, leader of the ironworkers, “This is New York now.”
