World Trade Center (1973–2001)
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The original World Trade Center (WTC) was a large complex of seven buildings in the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
of Lower Manhattan in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
. At the time of their completion, the Twin Towers—the original 1 World Trade Center (the North Tower) at ; and 2 World Trade Center (the South Tower) at —were the tallest buildings in the world. Other buildings in the complex included the
Marriott World Trade Center The Marriott World Trade Center was a 22-story, 825-room hotel at 3 World Trade Center within the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It opened in April 1981 as the Vista International Hotel and was the first major hotel t ...
(3 WTC),
4 WTC 4 World Trade Center (4 WTC; also known as 150 Greenwich Street) is a skyscraper constructed as part of the new World Trade Center (2001–present), World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The tower is located on Greenwich Street ...
, 5 WTC, 6 WTC, and 7 WTC. The complex contained of office space. The core complex was built between 1966 and 1975, at a cost of $400 million (equivalent to $3.56 billion in 2022). The idea was suggested by
David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
to help stimulate
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
in Lower Manhattan, and his brother
Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...
signed the legislation to build it. The buildings at the complex were designed by
Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward ...
. In 1998, the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...
decided to privatize it by leasing the buildings to a private company to manage. It awarded the lease to
Silverstein Properties Silverstein Properties, Inc. (SPI) is a family held, full-service real estate development, investment and management firm based in New York City. Founded in 1957 by Chairman Larry Silverstein, the company specializes in developing, acquiring, a ...
in . During its existence, the World Trade Center symbolized globalization and the economic power of America. Although its design was initially criticized by New York citizens and professional critics, the Twin Towers became an icon of New York City. It had a major role in
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
, and according to one estimate was depicted in 472 films. The Twin Towers were also used in
Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized high-wire walks between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...
's tightrope-walking performance on August 7, 1974. Following the September 11 attacks, mentions of the complex in various media were altered or deleted, and several dozen "memorial films" were created. The World Trade Center experienced several major crime and terrorist incidents, including a fire on , 1975; a bombing on , 1993; a bank robbery on , 1998, and finally a terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The latter began after
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
-affiliated
hijackers Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''like ...
flew two
Boeing 767 The Boeing 767 is an American wide-body aircraft developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The aircraft was launched as the 7X7 program on July 14, 1978, the prototype first flew on September 26, 1981, and it was certified on ...
jets into the Twin Towers within minutes of each other. Between 16,400 and 18,000 people were in the Twin Towers when they were struck. The fires from the impacts were intensified by the planes’ burning jet fuel, which along with the initial damage to the buildings’ structural columns, ultimately caused both towers to collapse. The attacks in New York City killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. Falling debris from the towers, combined with fires that the debris initiated in several surrounding buildings, led to the partial or complete collapse of all the WTC complex's buildings including 7 World Trade Center, and caused catastrophic damage to 10 other large structures in the surrounding area. The cleanup and recovery process at the
World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...
took eight months, during which the remains of the other buildings were demolished. On May 30, 2002, the last piece of WTC steel was ceremonially removed. A new World Trade Center complex is being built with six new skyscrapers and several other buildings, many of which are complete. A memorial and museum to those killed in the attacks, a new rapid transit hub, and an
elevated park An elevated park (sometimes known as a sky park) refers to a park located above the normal ground (street) level. This type of a park has become more popular in the early 21st century, featuring in a number of urban renewal projects. While usually ...
have been opened. The memorial features two square
reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface. Design Reflecting pools are ...
s in the center marking where the Twin Towers stood.
One World Trade Center One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Mer ...
, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere at and the lead building for the new complex, was completed in May 2013 and opened in November 2014.


Before the World Trade Center


Site

The western portion of the World Trade Center site was originally under the
Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...
. The shoreline was in the vicinity of
Greenwich Street Greenwich Street is a north–south street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It extends from the intersection of Ninth Avenue (Manhattan), Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, Manhat ...
, which is closer to the site's eastern border. It was on this shoreline, close to the intersection of Greenwich and the former Dey Street, that Dutch explorer
Adriaen Block Adriaen (Arjan) Block (c. 1567 – buried April 27, 1627) was a Dutch private trader, privateer, and ship's captain who is best known for exploring the coastal and river valley areas between present-day New Jersey and Massachusetts during four v ...
's ship, '' Tyger'', burned to the waterline in November 1613, stranding him and his crew and forcing them to overwinter on the island. They built the first European settlement in
Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The remains of the ship were buried under
landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the waste ...
when the shoreline was extended beginning in 1797 and was discovered during excavation work in 1916. The remains of a second eighteenth-century ship were discovered in 2010 during excavation work at the site. The ship, believed to be a Hudson River sloop, was found just south of where the Twin Towers stood, about below the surface. Later, the area became New York City's
Radio Row Radio Row is a nickname for an urban street or district specializing in the sale of radio and electronic equipment and parts. Radio Rows arose in many cities with the 1920s rise of broadcasting and declined after the middle of the 20th century ...
, which existed from 1921 to 1966. The neighborhood was a
warehouse district This is a list of notable warehouse districts. A warehouse district or warehouse row is an area found in many urban setting known for being the current or former location of numerous warehouses. Logistically, warehouses are often located in indust ...
in what is now
Tribeca Tribeca (), originally written as TriBeCa, is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan in New York City. Its name is a syllabic abbreviation of "Triangle Below Canal Street". The "triangle" (more accurately a quadrilateral) is bounded by Canal Stree ...
and the
Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...
. Harry Schneck opened City Radio on Cortlandt Street in 1921, and eventually, the area held several blocks of electronics stores, with Cortlandt Street as its central axis. The used radios, war surplus electronics (e.g.,
AN/ARC-5 The AN/ARC-5 Command Radio Set is a series of radio receivers, transmitters, and accessories carried aboard U.S. Navy aircraft during World War II and for some years afterward. It is described as "a complete multi-channel radio transmitting and ...
radios), junk, and parts were often piled so high they would spill out onto the street, attracting collectors and scroungers. According to a business writer, it also was the origin of the electronic component distribution business.


Establishment of the World Trade Center

The idea of establishing a World Trade Center in New York City was first proposed in 1943. The
New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official ...
passed a bill authorizing New York Governor
Thomas E. Dewey Thomas Edmund Dewey (March 24, 1902 – March 16, 1971) was an American lawyer, prosecutor, and politician who served as the 47th governor of New York from 1943 to 1954. He was the Republican candidate for president in 1944 and 1948: although ...
to begin developing plans for the project, but the plans were put on hold in 1949. During the late 1940s and 1950s, economic growth in New York City was concentrated in
Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
. To help stimulate
urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
in Lower Manhattan,
David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...
suggested that the Port Authority build a World Trade Center there. Plans for the use of
eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...
to remove the shops in Radio Row bounded by
Vesey Vesey is an English surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Agmondisham Vesey (1677-1739) Irish landowner and politician * Agmondesham Vesey (1708-85) Irish politician and amateur architect * Denmark Vesey (c. 1767–1822), American reb ...
,
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...
,
Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...
, and
West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...
Streets began in 1961 when the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...
was deciding to build the world's first
world trade center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
. They had two choices: the east side of Lower Manhattan, near the
South Street Seaport The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District, in Lower Manhattan. The Seaport is a designated historic district ...
; or the west side, near the
Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned sub ...
(H&M) station,
Hudson Terminal Hudson Terminal was a rapid transit station and office-tower complex in the Radio Row neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened during 1908 and 1909, it was composed of a terminal station for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), ...
. Initial plans, made public in 1961, identified a site along the
East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
for the World Trade Center. As a bi-state agency, the Port Authority required approval for new projects from the governors of both New York and
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. New Jersey Governor
Robert B. Meyner Robert Baumle Meyner (July 3, 1908 – May 27, 1990) was an American Democratic Party politician and attorney who served as the 44th governor of New Jersey from 1954 to 1962. Before being elected governor, Meyner represented Warren County in t ...
objected to New York getting a $335 million project. Toward the end of 1961, negotiations with outgoing New Jersey Governor Meyner reached a stalemate. At the time, ridership on New Jersey's H&M Railroad had declined substantially—from a high of 113 million riders in 1927, to 26 million in 1958—after new automobile tunnels and bridges had opened across the Hudson River. In a meeting between Port Authority director
Austin J. Tobin Austin Joseph Tobin (May 25, 1903 – February 8, 1978) was an American businessman who served as the executive director of the Port of New York Authority, the precursor to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, from 1942 until 1972. To ...
and newly elected New Jersey Governor
Richard J. Hughes Richard Joseph Hughes (August 10, 1909December 7, 1992) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. A Democrat, he served as the 45th governor of New Jersey from 1962 to 1970, and as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1973 to ...
, the Port Authority offered to take over the H&M Railroad. They also decided to move the World Trade Center project to the Hudson Terminal building site on the west side of Lower Manhattan, a more convenient location for New Jersey commuters arriving via
PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...
. With the new location and the Port Authority's acquisition of the H&M Railroad, New Jersey agreed to support the World Trade Center project. As part of the deal, the Port Authority renamed the H&M "Port Authority Trans-Hudson", or PATH for short. To compensate Radio Row business owners for their displacement, the Port Authority gave each business $3,000 without regard to how long the business had been there or how prosperous it was. The Port Authority began purchasing properties in the area for the World Trade Center by March 1965, and demolition of Radio Row began in March 1966. It was completely demolished by the end of the year. Approval was also needed from New York City Mayor
John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
and the
New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...
. Disagreements with the city centered on tax issues. On , 1966, an agreement was reached whereby the Port Authority would make annual payments to the City in lieu of taxes for the portion of the World Trade Center leased to private tenants. In subsequent years, the payments would rise as the
real estate tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
rate increased.


Development


Design

On , 1962, the Port Authority announced the selection of
Minoru Yamasaki was an American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City and several other large-scale projects. Yamasaki was one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century. He and fellow architect Edward ...
as lead architect and
Emery Roth & Sons Emery Roth ( hu, Róth Imre, July 17, 1871 – August 20, 1948) was an American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-A ...
as associate architects. Yamasaki devised the plan to incorporate twin towers. His original plan called for the towers to be 80 stories tall, but to meet the Port Authority's requirement for of office space, the buildings would each have to be 110 stories tall. Yamasaki's design for the World Trade Center, unveiled to the public on , 1964, called for a square plan approximately in dimension on each side. The buildings were designed with narrow office windows wide, which reflected Yamasaki's
fear of heights Acrophobia is an extreme or irrational fear or phobia of heights, especially when one is not particularly high up. It belongs to a category of specific phobias, called space and motion discomfort, that share both similar causes and options for ...
as well as his desire to make building occupants feel secure. His design included building facades clad in aluminum-alloy. The World Trade Center was one of the most striking American implementations of the architectural ethic of
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...
and was the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies. He was also inspired by
Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ar ...
, elements of which he incorporated in the building's design, having previously designed Saudi Arabia's Dhahran International Airport with the
Saudi Binladin Group Saudi Binladin Group (SBG) is a Saudi construction company headquartered in Jeddah, Hejaz. It is the largest construction company of the Middle East. The company is owned primarily by the Bin Laden family. Founded by Muhammad Binladin in 1931, ...
. A major limiting factor in building height is the issue of elevators; the taller the building, the more elevators are needed to service it, requiring more space-consuming elevator banks. Yamasaki and the engineers decided to use a new system with two " sky lobbies"—floors where people could switch from a large-capacity express elevator to a local elevator that goes to each floor in a section. This system, inspired by the local-express train operation used in New York City's subway system, allowed the design to stack local elevators within the same elevator shaft. Located on the 44th and 78th floors of each tower, the sky lobbies enabled the elevators to be used efficiently. This increased the amount of usable space on each floor from 62 to 75 percent by reducing the number of elevator shafts. Altogether, the World Trade Center had 95 express and local elevators. The structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle & Jackson worked to implement Yamasaki's design, developing the framed-tube structural system used in the twin towers. The Port Authority's Engineering Department served as foundation engineers, Joseph R. Loring & Associates as
electrical engineers Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the ...
, and
Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JB&B) Jaros, Baum & Bolles (JB&B) is an American MEP (Mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) and consulting engineering firm founded in 1915 by Alfred L. Jaros, Jr. and Albert L. Baum. The firm is best known for high-rise projects, including One World Trad ...
as
mechanical engineers Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
. Tishman Realty & Construction Company was the
general contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...
on the World Trade Center project. Guy F. Tozzoli, director of the World Trade Department at the Port Authority, and Rino M. Monti, the Port Authority's Chief Engineer, oversaw the project. As an interstate agency, the Port Authority was not subject to the local laws and regulations of the City of New York, including
building code A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for constructed objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permiss ...
s. Nonetheless, the World Trade Center's structural engineers ended up following draft versions of New York City's new 1968 building codes. The framed-tube design, introduced in the 1960s by
Bangladeshi-American Bangladeshi Americans ( bn, বাংলাদেশী মার্কিনী, Bangladeshī Markinī) are Americans of Bangladeshi descent. The majority of Bangladeshi Americans are Bengalis and form the largest group of Bengali Americans. Ba ...
structural engineer
Fazlur Rahman Khan Fazlur Rahman Khan ( bn, ফজলুর রহমান খান, ''Fozlur Rôhman Khan''; 3 April 1929 – 27 March 1982) was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect, who initiated important structural systems for skyscrape ...
, was a new approach that allowed more open floor plans than the traditional design that distributed columns throughout the interior to support building loads. Each of the World Trade Center towers had 236 high-strength, load-bearing perimeter steel columns which acted as
Vierendeel truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es. The perimeter columns were spaced closely together to form a strong, rigid wall structure, supporting virtually all lateral loads such as wind loads, and sharing the gravity load with the core columns. The perimeter structure containing 59 columns per side was constructed with extensive use of prefabricated modular pieces, each consisting of three columns, three stories tall, connected by
spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
plates. The spandrel plates were welded to the columns to create the modular pieces off-site at the fabrication shop. Adjacent modules were bolted together with the splices occurring at mid-span of the columns and spandrels. The spandrel plates were located at each floor, transmitting
shear stress Shear stress, often denoted by (Greek: tau), is the component of stress coplanar with a material cross section. It arises from the shear force, the component of force vector parallel to the material cross section. ''Normal stress'', on the ...
between columns, allowing them to work together in resisting lateral loads. The joints between modules were staggered vertically so that the column splices between adjacent modules were not on the same floor. Below the 7th floor to the foundation, there were fewer, wider-spaced perimeter columns to accommodate doorways. The core of the towers housed the elevator and utility shafts, restrooms, three stairwells, and other support spaces. The core of each tower was a rectangular area and contained 47 steel columns running from the bedrock to the top of the tower. The large, column-free space between the perimeter and core was bridged by prefabricated floor trusses. The floors supported their own weight as well as
live loads A structural load or structural action is a force, deformation, or acceleration applied to structural elements. A load causes stress, deformation, and displacement in a structure. Structural analysis, a discipline in engineering, analyzes the e ...
, providing lateral stability to the exterior walls and distributing wind loads among the exterior walls. The floors consisted of thick lightweight concrete slabs laid on a fluted steel deck. A grid of lightweight bridging trusses and main trusses supported the floors. The trusses connected to the perimeter at alternate columns and were on 6 foot 8 inch (2.03 m) centers. The top chords of the trusses were bolted to seats welded to the spandrels on the exterior side and a channel welded to the core columns on the interior side. The floors were connected to the perimeter spandrel plates with
viscoelastic In materials science and continuum mechanics, viscoelasticity is the property of materials that exhibit both viscous and elastic characteristics when undergoing deformation. Viscous materials, like water, resist shear flow and strain linearly ...
dampers that helped reduce the amount of sway felt by building occupants. Hat
truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...
es (or "outrigger trusses") located from the 107th floor to the top of the buildings were designed to support a tall communication antenna on top of each building. Only 1 WTC (north tower) actually had a spire antenna fitted, which was added in May 1979. The truss system consisted of six trusses along the long axis of the core and four along the short axis. This truss system allowed some load redistribution between the perimeter and core columns and supported the transmission tower. The framed-tube design, using steel core and perimeter columns protected with sprayed-on fire-resistant material, created a relatively lightweight structure that would sway more in response to the wind compared to traditional structures, such as the
Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its name is derived from "Empire State", the nickname of the st ...
that has thick, heavy masonry for
fireproofing Fireproofing is rendering something (structures, materials, etc.) resistant to fire, or incombustible; or material for use in making anything fire-proof. It is a passive fire protection measure. "Fireproof" or "fireproofing" can be used as a ...
of steel structural elements. During the design process,
wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
tests were done to establish design wind pressures that the World Trade Center towers could be subjected to and structural response to those forces. Experiments also were done to evaluate how much sway occupants could comfortably tolerate; however, many subjects experienced dizziness and other ill effects. One of the chief engineers
Leslie Robertson Leslie Earl Robertson (February 12, 1928 – February 11, 2021) was an American engineer. He was the lead structural engineer of the Twin Towers of the original World Trade Center in New York City, and served as structural engineer on numerous o ...
worked with Canadian engineer Alan G. Davenport to develop viscoelastic dampers to absorb some of the sways. These viscoelastic dampers, used throughout the structures at the joints between floor trusses and perimeter columns along with some other structural modifications, reduced the building sway to an acceptable level.


Gallery

File:World Trade Center Interior Large arched windows - LCCN2020714985.jpg, World Trade Center lobby interior with large arched windows File:World Trade Center, New York. Exterior. Entrance arches with Ideogram sculpture - LCCN2021636623.jpg, Exterior entrance arches with
Ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by famili ...
sculpture File:World Trade Center Plaza - Aerial view with Sphere at Plaza Fountain sculpture and Hudson River - LNCC2021636621.jpg, Austin J. Tobin plaza with
The Sphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
sculpture in the center of
plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
and South and North towers and WTC complex surrounding it File:World Trade Center, New York. Exterior. View from plaza - LCCN2020714989.jpg, Exterior view from plaza File:World Trade Center, New York. Exterior. Single tower with Cloud Fortress and Sphere at Plaza Fountain sculptures - LCCN2021636622.jpg, Exterior view with Cloud Fortress sculpture in front


Construction

In March 1965, the Port Authority began acquiring property at the World Trade Center site. Demolition work began on , 1966, to clear thirteen square blocks of low rise buildings in Radio Row for its construction. Groundbreaking for the construction of the World Trade Center took place on , 1966. The site of the World Trade Center was located on filled land with the bedrock located below. To construct the World Trade Center, it was necessary to build a "
bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for holding water in which a person or animal may bathe. Most modern bathtubs are made of thermoformed acrylic, porcelain-enameled steel or cast iron, or fiberglass-reinforced ...
" with a
slurry wall A slurry wall is a civil engineering technique used to build reinforced concrete walls in areas of soft earth close to open water, or with a high groundwater table. This technique is typically used to build diaphragm (water-blocking) walls surro ...
around the
West Street The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...
side of the site, to keep water from the Hudson River out. The slurry method selected by the Port Authority's chief engineer, John M. Kyle, Jr., involved digging a trench, and as excavation proceeded, filling the space with a slurry consisting of a mixture of
bentonite Bentonite () is an absorbent swelling clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite (a type of smectite) which can either be Na-montmorillonite or Ca-montmorillonite. Na-montmorillonite has a considerably greater swelling capacity than Ca-mon ...
and water, which plugged holes and kept groundwater out. When the trench was dug out, a steel cage was inserted and concrete was poured in, forcing the slurry out. It took fourteen months for the slurry wall to be completed. It was necessary before the excavation of material from the interior of the site could begin. The of excavated material were used (along with other fill and dredge material) to expand the Manhattan shoreline across West Street to form
Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...
. In January 1967, the Port Authority awarded $74 million in contracts to various steel suppliers. Construction work began on the North Tower in , and construction on the South Tower was under way by . The original
Hudson Tubes Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned su ...
, which carried PATH trains into Hudson Terminal, remained in service during the construction process until 1971, when a new station opened. The
topping out In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
ceremony of 1 WTC (North Tower) took place on , 1970, while 2 WTC's ceremony (South Tower) occurred on , 1971. Extensive use of prefabricated components helped to speed up the construction process, and the first tenants moved into the North Tower in , while it was still under construction, while the South Tower began accepting tenants in . When the World Trade Center twin towers were completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had reached $900 million. The ribbon cutting ceremony took place on , 1973. In addition to the twin towers, the plan for the World Trade Center complex included four other low-rise buildings, which were built in the early 1970s. The 47-story 7 World Trade Center building was added in the 1980s, to the north of the main complex. Altogether, the main World Trade Center complex occupied a superblock.


Criticism

Plans to build the World Trade Center were controversial. Its site was the location of Radio Row, home to hundreds of commercial and industrial tenants, property owners, small businesses, and approximately 100 residents, many of whom fiercely resisted forced relocation. A group of affected small businesses sought an injunction challenging the Port Authority's power of an eminent domain. The case made its way through the court system to the
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
; it refused to hear the case. Private real-estate developers and members of the Real Estate Board of New York, led by Empire State Building owner
Lawrence A. Wien Lawrence Arthur Wien (May 30, 1905 – December 10, 1988) was an American lawyer, philanthropist, and real estate investor.aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
attracted criticism from the
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
and other groups.
Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a w ...
, author of '' The City in History'' and other works on
urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
, criticized the project, describing it and other new skyscrapers as "just glass-and-metal filing cabinets". The Twin Towers were described as looking similar to "the boxes that the Empire State Building and the
Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...
came in". Many disliked the twin towers' narrow office windows, which were only wide and framed by pillars that restricted views on each side to narrow slots. Activist and sociologist
Jane Jacobs Jane Jacobs (''née'' Butzner; 4 May 1916 – 25 April 2006) was an American-Canadian journalist, author, theorist, and activist who influenced urban studies, sociology, and economics. Her book '' The Death and Life of Great American Cities ...
argued the waterfront should be kept open for New Yorkers to enjoy. Some critics regarded the trade center's "superblock", replacing a more traditional, dense neighborhood, as an inhospitable environment that disrupted the complicated traffic network typical of Manhattan. For example, in his book '' The Pentagon of Power'', Lewis Mumford denounced the center as an "example of the purposeless giantism and technological exhibitionism that are now eviscerating the living tissue of every great city".


Complex

The World Trade Center complex housed more than 430 companies that were engaged in various commercial activities. On a typical weekday, an estimated 50,000 people worked in the complex and another 140,000 passed through as visitors. The complex hosted of office space, and was so large that it had its own zip code: 10048. The towers offered expansive views from the observation deck atop the South Tower and the
Windows on the World Windows on the World was a complex of dining, meeting, and entertainment venues on the top floors (106th and 107th) of the North Tower (Building One) of the original World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan. It included a restaurant calle ...
restaurant on top of the North Tower. The Twin Towers became known worldwide, appearing in numerous movies and television shows as well as on postcards and other merchandise. It became a New York icon, in the same league as the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, and the
Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...
. The World Trade Center was compared to
Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span th ...
, which David Rockefeller's brother Nelson Rockefeller had developed in midtown Manhattan.


North and South Towers

One World Trade Center and Two World Trade Center, commonly referred to as the Twin Towers, were designed by architect Minoru Yamasaki as framed tube structures, which provided tenants with open floor plans, uninterrupted by columns or walls. They were the main buildings of the World Trade Center. Construction of the North Tower at One World Trade Center began in 1966 with the South Tower at Two World Trade Center. When completed in 1972, 1 World Trade Center became the tallest building in the world for two years, surpassing the Empire State Building after its 40-year reign. The North Tower stood tall and featured a telecommunications antenna or mast that was built on the roof in 1979 (upgraded in 1999 to accommodate DTV broadcasts). With this addition, the highest point of the North Tower reached . Chicago's
Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108-story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), ...
, then called Sears Tower which was finished in , reached at the rooftop. When completed in 1973, the South Tower became the second tallest building in the world at . Its rooftop observation deck was high and its indoor observation deck was high. Each tower stood over high, and occupied about of the total of the site's land. During a press conference in 1973, Yamasaki was asked, "Why two 110-story buildings? Why not one 220-story building?" His
tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scot ...
response was: "I didn't want to lose the human scale." Architectural critic Ada Louise Huxtable criticized the design of the twin towers when they were first announced, saying: "Here we have the world's daintiest architecture for the world's biggest buildings." The twin towers had more floors (at 110) than any other building before the completion of the Sears Tower in 1973. Their floor counts were not matched until the construction of the
Sears Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...
, and they were not surpassed until the construction of the
Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...
, which opened in 2010. Each tower had a total mass of around 500,000 tons.


Austin J. Tobin Plaza

The original World Trade Center had a plaza around which all of the buildings in the complex, including the twin towers, were centered. World Trade Center officials had wanted the plaza to be a "contemplative space" or a
Zen garden The or Japanese rock garden, often called a zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and u ...
. In 1982, the plaza was renamed after Port Authority's late chairman, Austin J. Tobin, who authorized the construction of the original World Trade Center. During the summer, the Port Authority installed a portable stage, typically backed up against the North Tower within Tobin Plaza for musicians and performers. These series of concerts and events were called "CenterStage at the World Trade Center". At the center of the plaza stood ''
The Sphere ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'', a sculpture surrounded by a fountain. The site had other sculptures such as ''
Ideogram An ideogram or ideograph (from Greek "idea" and "to write") is a graphic symbol that represents an idea or concept, independent of any particular language, and specific words or phrases. Some ideograms are comprehensible only by famili ...
'', '' Cloud Fortress'', and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing memorial fountain. The plaza was pervaded by
Muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingho ...
background music that came from installed loudspeakers. For many years, the Plaza was often beset by brisk winds at ground level owing to the
Venturi effect The Venturi effect is the reduction in fluid pressure that results when a fluid flows through a constricted section (or choke) of a pipe. The Venturi effect is named after its discoverer, the 18th century Italian physicist, Giovanni Battista V ...
between the two towers. Some gusts were so strong that pedestrians' travel had to be aided by ropes. In 1997 Tony May opened an Italian restaurant in the plaza next to 4 World Trade Center called "Gemelli". The following year, he opened another restaurant in an adjacent place called "Pasta Break". On June 9, 1999, the outdoor plaza reopened after undergoing $12 million in renovations. This involved replacing
marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...
pavers with over 40,000 gray and pink
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
stones, as well as adding benches, planters, food kiosks, and outdoor dining areas.


Top of the World observation deck

Although most of the space in the World Trade Center complex was off-limits to the public, the South Tower featured a public glass-enclosed observation deck on the 107th floor called ''Top of the World'' and an open-air deck with the height of 110 stories. The observation deck was operative since December 1975 and the opening times were from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. (June - August) and from 9:30 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. (September - May). After paying an entrance fee in the second floor, visitors were required to pass through security checks added after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. They were then sent to the 107th-floor indoor observatory at a height of by a dedicated express elevator. The exterior columns were narrowed to allow 28 inches of window width between them. In 1995, the Port Authority leased operation of the observatory to Ogden Entertainment, which decided to renovate it. On April 30, 1997, the Top of the World tour reopened after renovations were finished. Attractions added to the observation deck included 24 video monitors, which provided descriptions of 44 points of interest in six languages; a theater showing a film of a simulated helicopter tour around the city called "Manhattan Magic"; a model of Manhattan with 750 buildings; a
Kodak The Eastman Kodak Company (referred to simply as Kodak ) is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorpor ...
photo booth and two gift shops. The 107th-floor also featured a subway-themed food court that featured Sbarro Street Station and
Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs Nathan's Famous, Inc. is an American company that operates a chain of fast food restaurants specializing in hot dogs. The original Nathan's restaurant stands at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in the Coney Island neighborhood of the Bro ...
with a dining area that simulated
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. Weather permitting, visitors could ride two short escalators up from the 107th-floor viewing area to an outdoor platform at a height of . On a clear day, visitors could see up to . An anti-suicide fence was placed on the roof itself, with the viewing platform set back and elevated above it, requiring only an ordinary railing. This left the view unobstructed, unlike the observation deck of the Empire State Building.


Windows on the World Restaurant

Windows on the World, the restaurant on the North Tower's 106th and 107th floors, opened in . It was developed by restaurateur
Joe Baum Joseph Harold Baum (August 17, 1920 – October 5, 1998) was an American restaurateur and innovator responsible for creating the country's first themed restaurants, including The Four Seasons Restaurant, Windows on the World, and the restored Rai ...
at a cost of more than $17 million. As well as the main restaurant, two offshoots were located at the top of the North Tower: Hors d'Oeuvrerie (offered a Danish smorgasbord during the day and
sushi is a Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is "sushi rice," also ...
in the evening) and Cellar in the Sky (a small
wine bar A wine bar is a tavern-like business focusing on selling wine, rather than liquor or beer. A typical feature of many wine bars is a wide selection of wines available by the glass. Some wine bars are profiled on wines of a certain type of origin, ...
). Windows on the World also had a wine school program run by
Kevin Zraly Kevin Zraly is an American wine educator and the founder of the Windows on the World Wine School, who has been described as America's most famous and entertaining wine teacher. Career Between 1976 and 2001, Zraly held the position of wine director ...
, who published a book on the course. Windows on the World was forced to close following the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as the explosion damaged receiving areas, storage and parking spots used by the restaurant complex. On May 12, 1994, the Joseph Baum & Michael Whiteman Company won the contract to run the restaurants after Windows's former operator, Inhilco, gave up its lease. After its reopening on June 26, 1996, the Greatest Bar on Earth and Cellar in the Sky (reopened after Labor Day) replaced the original restaurant offshoots. In 1999, Cellar in the Sky was changed into an American
steakhouse A steakhouse, steak house, or chophouse refers to a restaurant that specializes in steaks and chops, found mainly in North America. Modern steakhouses may also carry other cuts of meat including poultry, roast prime rib, and veal, as well as ...
and renamed as Wild Blue. In 2000 (its last full year of operation), Windows on the World reported revenues of $37 million, making it the highest-grossing restaurant in the United States. The Skydive Restaurant, which was a 180-seat cafeteria on the 44th floor of 1 WTC conceived for office workers, was also operated by Windows on the World. In its last iteration, Windows on the World received mixed reviews.
Ruth Reichl Ruth Reichl (; born 1948), is an American chef, food writer and editor. In addition to two decades as a food critic, mainly spent at the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''The New York Times'', Reichl has also written cookbooks, memoirs and a novel, and ...
, a ''New York Times'' food critic, said in December 1996 that "nobody will ever go to Windows on the World just to eat, but even the fussiest food person can now be content dining at one of New York's favorite tourist destinations". She gave the restaurant two out of four stars, signifying a "very good" quality. In his 2009 book ''Appetite'', William Grimes wrote that, "At Windows, New York was the main course". In 2014, Ryan Sutton of ''
Eater.com ''Eater'' is a food website by Vox Media. It was co-founded by Lockhart Steele and Ben Leventhal in 2005, and originally focused on dining and nightlife in New York City. Eater launched a national site in 2009, and covered nearly 20 cities by 2 ...
'' compared the now-destroyed restaurant's cuisine to that of its replacement,
One World Observatory One World Trade Center (also known as One World Trade, One WTC, and formerly Freedom Tower) is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Me ...
. He said, "Windows helped usher in a new era of captive audience dining in that the restaurant was a destination in itself, rather than a lazy by-product of the vital institution it resided in."


Other buildings

Five smaller buildings stood on the block. One was the 22-floor hotel, which opened at the southwest corner of the site in 1981 as the Vista Hotel; in 1995, it became the
Marriott World Trade Center The Marriott World Trade Center was a 22-story, 825-room hotel at 3 World Trade Center within the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It opened in April 1981 as the Vista International Hotel and was the first major hotel t ...
(3 WTC). Three low-rise buildings (4 WTC, 5 WTC, and 6 WTC), which were steel-framed office buildings, also stood around the plaza. 6 World Trade Center, at the northwest corner, housed the
United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...
. 5 World Trade Center was located at the northeast corner above the PATH station, and 4 World Trade Center, located at the southeast corner, housed the U.S. Commodities Exchange. In 1987, construction was completed on a 47-floor office building, 7 World Trade Center, located to the north of the superblock. Beneath the World Trade Center complex was an
underground shopping mall An underground city is a series of linked subterranean spaces that may provide a defensive refuge; a place for living, working or shopping; a transit system; mausolea; wine or storage cellars; cisterns or drainage channels; or several of the ...
. It had connections to various mass transit facilities, including the
New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
system and the Port Authority's
PATH A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...
trains. One of the world's largest gold depositories was located underneath the World Trade Center, owned by a group of commercial banks. The 1993 bombing detonated close to the vault. Seven weeks after the attacks, $230 million in precious metals was removed from basement vaults of 4 WTC. This included 3,800 100-Troy-ounce 24 carat gold bars and 30,000 1,000-ounce silver bars.


Major events


February 13, 1975 fire

On February 13, 1975, a
three-alarm fire One-alarm fires, two-alarm fires, three-alarm fires, etc., are categories classifying the seriousness of fires, commonly used in the United States and in Canada, particularly indicating the level of response by local authorities. The term multip ...
broke out on the North Tower's 11th floor. It spread to the 9th and 14th floors after igniting telephone cable insulation in a utility shaft that ran vertically between floors. Areas at the furthest extent of the fire were extinguished almost immediately; the original fire was put out in a few hours. Most of the damage was concentrated on the 11th floor, fueled by cabinets filled with paper, alcohol-based fluid for office machines, and other office equipment. Fireproofing protected the steel and there was no structural damage to the tower. In addition to fire damage on the 9th through the 14th floors, the water used to extinguish the fire damaged a few of the floors below. At that time, the World Trade Center had no fire sprinkler systems. On March 12, 1981, the Port Authority announced a $45 million plan to install sprinklers throughout the World Trade Center.


February 26, 1993 bombing

The first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center occurred on February 26, 1993, at 12:17 p.m. A
Ryder Ryder System, Inc., commonly known as Ryder, is an American transportation and logistics company. It is especially known for its fleet of commercial rental trucks. Ryder specializes in fleet management, supply chain management, and transp ...
truck filled with of explosives (planted by
Ramzi Yousef Ramzi Ahmed Yousef ( ur, , translit=''Ramzī Ahmad Yūsuf''; born 20 May 1967 or 27 April 1968) is a Pakistani convicted terrorist who was one of the main perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines ...
) detonated in the North Tower's underground garage. The blast opened a 100 ft (30 m) hole through five sublevels with the greatest damage occurring on levels B1 and B2 and significant structural damage on level B3. Six people were killed and 1,042 others were injured in the attacks, some from smoke inhalation. Sheikh
Omar Abdel Rahman Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman ( ar, عمر عبد الرحمن), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptian Islamist militant who served a life sent ...
and four other individuals were later convicted for their involvement in the bombing, while Yousef and
Eyad Ismoil Eyad Ismoil ( ar, اياد اسماعيل) (born circa 1971) is a Jordanian citizen who, for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, was convicted by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York of conspiracy in ...
were convicted for carrying out the bombing. According to a presiding judge, the conspirators' chief aim at the time of the attack was to destabilize the North Tower and send it crashing into the South Tower, toppling both skyscrapers. Following the bombing, floors that were blown out needed to be repaired to restore the structural support they provided to columns. The slurry wall was in peril following the bombing and the loss of the floor slabs that provided lateral support against pressure from Hudson River water on the other side. The refrigeration plant on sublevel B5, which provided air conditioning to the entire World Trade Center complex, was heavily damaged. After the bombing, the Port Authority installed
photoluminescent Photoluminescence (abbreviated as PL) is light emission from any form of matter after the absorption of photons (electromagnetic radiation). It is one of many forms of luminescence (light emission) and is initiated by photoexcitation (i.e. photo ...
pathway markings in the stairwells. The fire alarm system for the entire complex needed to be replaced because critical wiring and signaling in the original system were destroyed. A memorial to the victims of the bombing, a
reflecting pool A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface. Design Reflecting pools are ...
, was installed with the names of those who were killed in the blast. It was later destroyed following the attacks. The names of the victims of the 1993 bombing are included in the
National September 11 Memorial & Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...
.


January 14, 1998 robbery

In January 1998,
Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
member Ralph Guarino gained maintenance access to the World Trade Center. He arranged a three-man crew for a heist that netted over $2 million from a Brinks delivery to the North Tower's 11th floor.


Other events

On the morning of August 7, 1974,
Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized high-wire walks between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...
performed a high-wire walk between the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center. For his unauthorized feat above the ground, he rigged a cable and used a custom-made , balancing pole. He performed for 45 minutes, making eight passes along the wire. Though Petit was charged with criminal trespass and disorderly conduct, he was later freed in exchange for performing for children in
Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. On February 20, 1981, an
Aerolíneas Argentinas Aerolíneas Argentinas, formally Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A., is Argentina's largest airline and the country flag carrier. The airline was created in 1949 from the merger of four companies and started operations in . A consortium led by Iberia ...
airliner was guided away by air traffic controllers after radar signals indicated it was on a collision course with the North Tower (1 WTC). The aircraft, which departed from
José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport ( es, link=no, Aeropuerto Internacional José Joaquín de Olmedo; ) is an international airport serving Guayaquil, the capital of the Guayas Province and the second most populous city in Ecuador. I ...
in
Guayaquil , motto = Por Guayaquil Independiente en, For Independent Guayaquil , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Ecuador#South America , pushpin_re ...
,
Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, and was scheduled to land at nearby
JFK Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the New ...
, was flying at a much lower altitude than regulations recommended. The 1995 PCA world chess championship was played on the 107th floor of the South Tower.


Proposed lease

Slow leasing was a hallmark of the old World Trade Center complex. The Twin Towers suffered high vacancy rates for decades. The complex achieved 95% occupancy only in mid-2001. Following the Port Authority's approved plans to privatize the World Trade Center in the late 1990s, they sought to lease it to a private entity in 2001. Bids for the lease came from
Vornado Realty Trust Vornado Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust formed in Maryland in 1982, with its primary office in New York City. The company invests in office buildings and street retail in Manhattan. Investments Notable properties owned by the ...
; a joint bid between
Brookfield Properties Brookfield Properties is a North American subsidiary of commercial real estate company Brookfield Property Partners, which itself is a subsidiary of alternative asset management company Brookfield Asset Management. It is responsible for the pro ...
Corporation and
Boston Properties Boston Properties, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in premier workplaces in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. As of June 30, 2022, the company owned or had interest ...
; and a joint bid by
Silverstein Properties Silverstein Properties, Inc. (SPI) is a family held, full-service real estate development, investment and management firm based in New York City. Founded in 1957 by Chairman Larry Silverstein, the company specializes in developing, acquiring, a ...
and
The Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...
. Privatizing the World Trade Center would add it to the city's tax rolls and provide funds for other Port Authority projects. On , 2001, the Port Authority announced that Vornado Realty Trust had won the World Trade Center lease, paying $3.25 billion for the 99-year lease. Vornado outbid Silverstein by $600 million though Silverstein upped his offer to $3.22 billion. However, Vornado insisted on last minute changes to the deal, including a shorter 39-year lease, which the Port Authority considered nonnegotiable. Vornado later withdrew and Silverstein's bid for the lease to the World Trade Center was accepted on , 2001, and closed on , 2001.


Destruction

On
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
, Islamist terrorists hijacked
American Airlines Flight 11 American Airlines Flight 11 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001 as part of the September 11 attacks. Lead hijacker Mohamed Atta deliberately crashed the plane into the North Towe ...
and crashed it into the northern façade of the North Tower at 8:46:40 a.m.; the aircraft struck between the 93rd and 99th floors. Seventeen minutes later, at 9:03:11 a.m., a second group crashed the similarly hijacked
United Airlines Flight 175 United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The flight's scheduled plan was from Logan International Airport, in Boston, ...
into the southern façade of the South Tower, striking it between the 77th and 85th floors. The terrorist organization
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
, led by Osama bin Laden, carried out the attacks in retaliation for certain aspects of American foreign policy, particularly U.S. support of Israel and the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia. The damage caused to the North Tower by Flight 11 destroyed any means of escape from above the impact zone, trapping 1,344 people. Flight 175 had a much more off-centered impact compared to Flight 11, and a single stairwell was left intact; however, only a few people managed to descend successfully before the tower collapsed. Although the South Tower was struck lower than the North Tower, thus affecting more floors, a smaller number (fewer than 700) were killed instantly or trapped. At 9:59 a.m., the South Tower collapsed after burning for approximately 56 minutes. The fire caused steel structural elements, already weakened from the plane's impact, to fail. The North Tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m., after burning for approximately 102 minutes. At 5:20 p.m. on , 2001, 7 World Trade Center began to collapse with the crumbling of the east penthouse and collapsed completely at 5:21 p.m. due to uncontrolled fires causing structural failure. The Marriott World Trade Center hotel was destroyed during the two towers’ collapse. The three remaining buildings in the WTC plaza were extensively damaged by debris and later demolished. The cleanup and recovery process at the
World Trade Center site The World Trade Center site, often referred to as "Ground Zero" or "the Pile" immediately after the September 11 attacks, is a 14.6-acre (5.9 ha) area in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Vesey Street to the north ...
took eight months. The
Deutsche Bank Building The Deutsche Bank Building (formerly Bankers Trust Plaza) was a 39-story office building located at 130 Liberty Street in Manhattan, New York City, adjacent to the World Trade Center site. The building opened in 1974 and closed following the ...
across Liberty Street from the World Trade Center complex was later condemned because of the uninhabitable toxic conditions inside; it was deconstructed, with work completed in early 2011. The
Borough of Manhattan Community College The Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is a public community college in New York City. Founded in 1963 as part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system, BMCC grants associate degrees in a wide variety of vocational, busines ...
's Fiterman Hall at 30
West Broadway West Broadway is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, separated into two parts by Tribeca Park. The northern part begins at Tribeca Park, near the intersection of Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), Walker Street a ...
was also condemned due to extensive damage, and it was demolished and completely rebuilt. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, media reports suggested that tens of thousands might have been killed in the attacks, as over 50,000 people could have been inside the World Trade Center. The
National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into physical sci ...
(NIST) estimated approximately 17,400 individuals were in the towers at the time of the attacks. Ultimately, 2,753 death certificates (excluding those for hijackers) were filed relating to the 9/11 attacks. There were 2,192
civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not " combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant ...
s who died in and around the World Trade Center, including 658 employees of
Cantor Fitzgerald L.P. Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is an American financial services firm that was founded in 1945. It specializes in institutional equity, fixed income sales and trading, and serving the middle market with investment banking services, prime brokerage ...
(an investment bank on the 101st to 105th floors of One World Trade Center), 295 employees of
Marsh & McLennan Companies Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., doing business as Marsh McLennan, is a global professional services firm, headquartered in New York City with businesses in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, investme ...
(located immediately below Cantor Fitzgerald on floors 93 to 101, the location of Flight 11's impact), and 175 employees of
Aon Corporation Aon PLC () is a British-American multinational financial services firm that sells a range of risk-mitigation products, including Commercial Risk, Investment, Wealth and Reinsurance solutions, as well as boutique strategy consulting through Aon ...
. In addition to the civilian deaths, 414 sworn personnel were also killed: 343
New York City Fire Department The New York City Fire Department, officially the Fire Department of the City of New York (FDNY), is an American department of the government of New York City that provides fire protection services, technical rescue/special operations services, ...
(FDNY) firefighters, including 2 FDNY paramedics and 1 FDNY
chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
, and 71
law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a Public sector, public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the Law enforcement, enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialist ...
s, including 37 members of the
Port Authority Police Department The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, or Port Authority Police Department (PAPD), is a law enforcement agency in New York and New Jersey, the duties of which are to protect and to enforce state and city laws at all t ...
(PAPD) and 23 members of the
New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
(NYPD). Eight EMS personnel from private agencies also died in the attacks. Ten years after the attacks, the remains of only 1,629 victims had been identified. Of all the people who were still in the towers when they collapsed, only 20 were pulled out alive.


New World Trade Center

Over the following years, plans were created for the reconstruction of the World Trade Center. The
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation was formed in November 2001, following the September 11 attacks, to plan the reconstruction of Lower Manhattan and distribute nearly $10 billion in federal funds aimed at rebuilding downtown Manhattan. ...
(LMDC), established in to oversee the rebuilding process, organized competitions to select a
site plan A site plan or a plot plan is a type of drawing used by architects, landscape architects, urban planners, and engineers which shows existing and proposed conditions for a given area, typically a parcel of land which is to be modified. Sites pl ...
and memorial design.
Memory Foundations Memory Foundations is the name given by Daniel Libeskind to his site plan for the World Trade Center, which was originally selected by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) to be the master plan for rebuilding at the World Trade Cen ...
, designed by Daniel Libeskind, was selected as the master plan; however, substantial changes were made to the design. The first new building at the site was 7 WTC, which opened on . The memorial section of the
National September 11 Memorial & Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bomb ...
opened on September 11, 2011, and the museum opened on May 21, 2014. 1 WTC opened on , 2014; 4 WTC opened on , 2013; and 3 WTC opened on June 11, 2018. In November 2013, according to an agreement made with Silverstein Properties Inc., the new 2 WTC would not be built to its full height until sufficient space was leased to make the building financially viable. Above-ground construction of 5 WTC was also suspended due to a lack of tenants as well as disputes between the Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. In mid-2015, Silverstein Properties revealed plans for a redesigned 2 WTC, to be designed by Bjarke Ingels and completed by 2020 with
News Corp News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The second incarnation of the News Corporation (1980–2013), original News Corporation, it was formed ...
as anchor tenant. Four years later, with no anchor tenant for 2 WTC, Silverstein expressed his intent to resume work on the tower regardless of whether a tenant had signed.


Impact


On the surrounding community

The original World Trade Center created a superblock that cut through the area's street grid, isolating the complex from the rest of the community. The Port Authority had demolished several streets to make way for the towers within the World Trade Center. The project involved combining the 12-block area bounded by Vesey, Church, Liberty, and West Streets on the north, east, south, and west, respectively. 7 World Trade Center was built on the superblock's north side in the late 1980s over another block of Greenwich Street. The building acted as a physical barrier separating Tribeca to the north and the Financial District to the south. The underground mall at the World Trade Center also drew shoppers away from surrounding streets. The project was seen as being monolithic and overambitious, with the design having had no public input. By contrast, the rebuilding plans had significant public input. The public supported rebuilding a street grid through the World Trade Center site. One of the rebuilding proposals included building an enclosed shopping street along the path of Cortlandt Street, one of the streets demolished to make room for the original World Trade Center. However, the Port Authority ultimately decided to rebuild Cortlandt,
Fulton Fulton may refer to: People * Robert Fulton (1765–1815), American engineer and inventor who developed the first commercially successful steam-powered ship * Fulton (surname) Given name * Fulton Allem (born 1957), South African golfer * Fult ...
, and
Greenwich Street Greenwich Street is a north–south street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It extends from the intersection of Ninth Avenue (Manhattan), Ninth Avenue and Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District, Manhat ...
s, which were destroyed during the original World Trade Center's construction.


As an icon of popular culture

Before its destruction, the World Trade Center was a New York City icon, and the Twin Towers were the centerpiece that represented the entire complex. They were used in film and TV projects as "
establishing shot An establishing shot in filmmaking and television production sets up, or establishes, the context for a scene by showing the relationship between its important figures and objects. It is generally a long or extreme-long shot at the beginning of ...
s", standing for New York City as a whole. In 1999, one writer noted: "Nearly every guidebook in New York City lists the Twin Towers among the city's top ten attractions." There were several high-profile events that occurred at the World Trade Center. The most notable was held at the original WTC in 1974. French high wire acrobatic performer
Philippe Petit Philippe Petit (; born 13 August 1949) is a French high-wire artist who gained fame for his unauthorized high-wire walks between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1971 and of Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1973, as well as between the Twi ...
walked between the two towers on a tightrope, as shown in the documentary film ''
Man on Wire ''Man on Wire'' is a 2008 documentary film directed by James Marsh. The film chronicles Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Center. It is based on Petit's 2002 book, ''To Reach the Clouds'', ...
'' (2008) and depicted in the feature film '' The Walk'' (2015). Petit walked between the towers eight times on a steel cable. In 1975,
Owen J. Quinn Owen J. Quinn (born 1941 in the Bronx, New York) is an American man who was the first person to successfully parachute off one of the World Trade Center towers, on July 22, 1975. Early life In an interview with C. J. Sullivan of the ''New York P ...
base-jumped from the roof of the North Tower and safely landed on the plaza between the buildings. Quinn claimed that he was trying to publicize the plight of the poor. On May 26, 1977, Brooklyn toymaker
George Willig George Willig (born June 11, 1949) (a.k.a. "The Human Fly" or "The Spiderman") is a mountain-climber from Queens, New York, United States, who climbed the South Tower (2 World Trade Center) of the World Trade Center on May 26, 1977, about two a ...
scaled the exterior of the South Tower. He later said, "It looked unscalable; I thought I'd like to try it." Six years later, high-rise firefighting and rescue advocate
Dan Goodwin Daniel Goodwin (born November 7, 1955 in Kennebunkport, Maine) is an American climber best known for performing gymnastic-like flag maneuvers and one arm flyoffs while free soloing difficult rock climbs on national TV and for scaling towering s ...
successfully climbed the outside of the North Tower to call attention to the inability to rescue people potentially trapped in the upper floors of skyscrapers. The complex was featured in numerous works of popular culture; in 2006, it was estimated that the World Trade Center had appeared in some form in 472 films. Several iconic meanings were attributed to the World Trade Center. Film critic
David Sterritt David Sterritt (born September 11, 1944) is a film critic, author and scholar. He is most notable for his work on Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, and his many years as the Film Critic for ''The Christian Science Monitor'', where, from 1 ...
, who lived near the complex, said that the World Trade Center's appearance in the 1978 film ''
Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
'' "summarized a certain kind of American grandeur ..the grandeur, I would say, of sheer American powerfulness". Remarking on the towers' destruction in the 1996 film '' Independence Day'', Sterritt said: "The Twin Towers have been destroyed in various disaster movies that were made before 9/11. That became something that you couldn't do even retroactively after 9/11." Other motifs included romance, depicted in the 1988 film ''
Working Girl ''Working Girl'' is a 1988 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mike Nichols, written by Kevin Wade, and starring Harrison Ford, Sigourney Weaver, and Melanie Griffith. Its plot follows an ambitious secretary from Staten Island who t ...
'', and corporate avarice, depicted in '' Wall Street'' (1987) and ''
The Bonfire of the Vanities ''The Bonfire of the Vanities'' is a 1987 novel by Tom Wolfe. The story is a drama about ambition, racism, social class, politics, and greed in 1980s New York City, and centers on three main characters: WASP bond trader Sherman McCoy, Jewish as ...
'' (1990). Comic books, animated cartoons, television shows, video games, and music videos also used the complex as a setting.


After the September 11 attacks

After the September 11 attacks, some movies and TV shows deleted scenes or episodes set within the World Trade Center. For example, ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' episode " The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson", which first aired in 1997, was removed from syndication after the attacks because a scene showed the World Trade Center. Songs that mentioned the World Trade Center were no longer aired on radio, and the release dates of some films, such as the 2001–2002 films '' Sidewalks of New York;
People I Know ''People I Know'' is a 2002 crime drama film directed by Daniel Algrant and stars Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, and Téa Leoni. The film received mixed reviews, with Rotten Tomatoes giving a rating of 43%. Plot Eli Wurman ( Al Pacino) is an aging, ...
;'' and ''Spider-Man'' were delayed so producers could remove film and poster scenes that included the World Trade Center. The 2001 film ''
Kissing Jessica Stein ''Kissing Jessica Stein'' is a 2001 American independent romantic comedy film, written and co-produced by the film's stars, Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen. The film also stars Tovah Feldshuh and is directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld. I ...
'', which was shown at the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
the day before the attacks, had to be modified before its general public release so the filmmakers could delete scenes that depicted the World Trade Center. Other episodes and films mentioned the attacks directly or depicted the World Trade Center in alternate contexts. The production of some family-oriented films was also sped up due to a large demand for the genre after the attacks. Demand for horror and action films decreased, but within a short time demand returned to normal. By the attacks’ first anniversary, over sixty "memorial films" had been created. Filmmakers were criticized for removing scenes related to the World Trade Center. Rita Kempley of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' said "if we erase the towers from our art, we erase from our memories". Author Donald Langmead compared the phenomenon to the 1949 novel ''
Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also stylised as ''1984'') is a dystopian social science fiction novel and cautionary tale written by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and fina ...
'', where historic mentions of events are retroactively "rectified". Other filmmakers such as Michael Bay, who directed the 1998 film ''
Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
'', opposed retroactively removing references to the World Trade Center based on post-9/11 attitudes. Oliver Stone's film ''
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...
''—the first movie that specifically examined the attacks’ effects on the World Trade Center as contrasted with the effects elsewhere—was released in 2006. Several years after the attacks, works such as "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" were placed back in syndication. The
National September 11 Museum The National September 11 Memorial & Museum (also known as the 9/11 Memorial & Museum) is a memorial and museum in New York City commemorating the September 11 attacks of 2001, which killed 2,977 people, and the 1993 World Trade Center bombi ...
has preserved many of the works that feature depictions of the original World Trade Center.


Gallery

File:World Trade Center exterior with Brooklyn Bridge in foreground - LCCN2021636618.jpg, World Trade Center exterior with Brooklyn Bridge in foreground. 1973 File:World Trade Center, New York. Exterior. Twilight view from harbor - LCCN2021636615.jpg, World Trade Center exterior. Twilight view from harbor. 1976 File:WTC New York City 1992 Sander Lamme.jpg, View to the South from 1 World Trade Center in 1992 File:BrooklynBridgeManhattanW.jpg, View of Manhattan skyline from Brooklyn, 1978 File:View of the World Trade Center towers from Grove St. and Grand St., Jersey City, 1978 (08762v).jpg, The Twin Towers seen from Jersey City, 1978 File:LOC Brooklyn Bridge and East River Edit 3.jpg, Brooklyn Bridge and East River, 1982


See also

* Artwork damaged or destroyed in the September 11 attacks *
List of tallest freestanding steel structures This is a list of tallest freestanding steel structures in the world past and present. To be a freestanding steel structure it must not be supported by guy wires, the list therefore does not include guyed masts and the main vertical and lateral str ...
*
List of tallest freestanding structures This is a list of tallest freestanding structures in the world past and present. To be freestanding a structure must not be supported by guy wires, the sea or other types of support. It therefore does not include guyed masts, partially guyed to ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * ** ** ** *


External links


World Trade Center
– Silverstein Properties
World Trade Center (1997)

World Trade Center (2001)
– Port Authority of New York & New Jersey *
Building the Twin Towers: A Tribute
– slideshow by ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...
'' magazine
New York: A Documentary film
features the construction and destruction of the World Trade Center in the seventh and final episode of the series directed by Ric Burns.
Historic video with scenes of World Trade Center under construction in 1970
* (North Tower) (North Tower) (North Tower) {{DEFAULTSORT:World Trade Center (1973-2001) American Airlines Flight 11 1973 establishments in New York City 2001 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 2001 Articles containing video clips Office buildings completed in 1973 Buildings and structures destroyed in the September 11 attacks Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Financial District, Manhattan Former skyscrapers Former world's tallest buildings Historic American Buildings Survey in New York City History of New York City Minoru Yamasaki buildings Modernist architecture in New York City Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Skyscraper office buildings in Manhattan Twin towers United Airlines Flight 175 New York