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The original Two World Trade Center (also known as the South Tower, Tower 2, Building Two, or 2 WTC) was one of the Twin Towers in the original World Trade Center Complex in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The Tower was completed and opened in 1973 at a height of to the roof, distinguishable from its twin, the North Tower (1 World Trade Center), by the absence of a television antenna. On the 107th floor of this building was a popular tourist attraction called "
Top of the World Trade Center Observatories Top most commonly refers to: * Top, a basic term of orientation, distinguished from bottom, front, back, and sides * Spinning top, a ubiquitous traditional toy * Top (clothing), clothing designed to be worn over the torso * Mountain top, a mount ...
," and on the roof was an outdoor
observation deck An observation deck, observation platform, or viewing platform is an elevated sightseeing platform usually situated upon a tall architectural structure, such as a skyscraper or observation tower. Observation decks are sometimes enclosed from we ...
accessible to the public and a disused
helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...
at the center. The address of this building was 2 World Trade Center, with the WTC complex having its own ZIP code of 10048. The South Tower was destroyed along with the North Tower in the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
. At 9:03 a.m, seventeen minutes after its twin was hit, the South Tower was struck by
United Airlines Flight 175 United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in California that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as ...
. Although it was the second of the two skyscrapers to be hit by a hijacked airliner, it was the first to collapse, at 9:59 a.m., after burning for 56 minutes. Of the 2,977 victims killed in the attacks, around 1,000 were in the South Tower or on the ground. The new
2 World Trade Center 2 World Trade Center (2 WTC; also known as 200 Greenwich Street) is a skyscraper being developed as part of the rebuilt World Trade Center complex in Manhattan, New York City. It will replace the original 2 World Trade Center, which was compl ...
, which is currently on hold, is planned to have a stair step-shaped façade, with no observation deck, and no mechanical floors. At 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 that are part of the World Trade Center complex, in New York City, created for remembering the September 11 attacks in 2001 which k ...
, the southern pool marks the spot where the South Tower stood.


History


Development

In 1961, 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 (state), New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate c ...
agreed to build the
World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...
on the site of the
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 Railway terminal, terminal station for the Hudson & Manhat ...
in
Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...
, New York City. 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 (, died August 20, 1948) was a Hungarian-American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details. His sons co ...
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. In March 1965, the Port Authority began acquiring property at the World Trade Center site. Demolition work began on , 1966, and groundbreaking for the construction of the World Trade Center took place on , 1966. In January 1967, the Port Authority awarded $74 million in contracts to various steel suppliers. Construction on the South Tower was under way by . 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 at the top of a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is ofte ...
ceremony for 2 WTC (the South Tower) occurred on , 1971. The South Tower began accepting tenants in , and a ribbon cutting ceremony took place on , 1973.


Operation

In 1981, the Port Authority announced a $45 million plan to install sprinklers throughout the World Trade Center, following a major fire that occurred at the North Tower in 1975. On February 26, 1993, a
Ryder Ryder System, Inc. is an American transportation and logistics company, specializing in truck rental and leasing, fleet management, supply chain management, and transportation management. It also offers full-service leasing, rental and maint ...
truck filled with of explosives (planted by
Ramzi Yousef Ramzi Ahmed Yousef (; born 27 April 1968) is a Pakistani convicted terrorist who was one of the main perpetrators and the mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the bombing of Philippine Airlines Flight 434; he was also a co- ...
) detonated in the North Tower's underground garage. 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. Six people were killed and 1,042 others were injured in the attacks. In February 2001, the Port Authority leased the entire World Trade Center complex to
Vornado Realty Trust Vornado Realty Trust is an American 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. History Two Guys The origins of the ...
. However, Vornado insisted on last minute changes to the deal, and the next-highest bidder,
Silverstein Properties Silverstein Properties Inc. is an American 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, acquiri ...
, signed a lease for the complex on , 2001.


September 11 attacks

At 9:03 a.m. EDT on
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, five terrorists crashed
United Airlines Flight 175 United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in California that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as ...
into the southern face of the South Tower. Three buildings in the World Trade Center complex, including 2 WTC, collapsed due to fire-induced structural failure. The light construction and hollow nature of the structures allowed the jet fuel to penetrate far inside the towers, igniting many large fires simultaneously over a wide area of the impacted floors. The fuel from the planes burned at most for a few minutes, but the contents of the buildings burned over the next hour to hour and a half. The fires might not have been as centrally positioned, nor as intense, had traditionally heavy high-rise construction been standing in the way of the aircraft. Debris and fuel would likely have remained mostly outside the buildings or concentrated in more peripheral areas away from the building cores, which would then not have become unique failure points. In this scenario, the towers might have stood far longer, perhaps indefinitely. The fires were hot enough to weaken the columns and cause floors to sag, pulling perimeter columns inward and reducing their ability to support the mass of the building above. The South Tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m. after burning for 56 minutes in the fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight 175 and the explosion of its fuel.


Architecture

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 ...
was the lead architect for the tower, and
Emery Roth & Sons Emery Roth (, died August 20, 1948) was a Hungarian-American architect of Hungarian-Jewish descent who designed many New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 1930s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details. His sons co ...
were the associate architects. During the World Trade Center's construction, the structural engineers ended up following draft versions of New York City's 1968
building code A building code (also building control or building regulations) is a set of rules that specify the standards for construction objects such as buildings and non-building structures. Buildings must conform to the code to obtain planning permis ...
s, which incorporated "advanced techniques" in
building design Building design, also called architectural design, refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licen ...
. The Twin Towers used a tube-frame design, which required 40 percent less structural steel than conventional building designs. The structures were inspired by the architectural ethic of
Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...
and was the seminal expression of Yamasaki's gothic modernist tendencies. Yamasaki was also inspired by
Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both Secularity, secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Muslim world, Islamic world encompasse ...
, elements of which he incorporated in the buildings' design, having previously designed Saudi Arabia's
Dhahran International Airport Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cities of Dammam and Khobar, Dhahra ...
with the Saudi Binladin Group. When completed in 1973, the South Tower became the second tallest building in the world at , behind the North Tower. 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.


Facade

The Twin Towers' facades were made of high-strength, load-bearing perimeter steel columns which acted as Vierendeel trusses. Although the columns themselves were lightweight, they were spaced closely together, forming a strong, rigid wall structure. There were 59 perimeter columns, narrowly spaced, on each side of the building. In all, the perimeter walls measured long on each side, and the corners were
bevel A bevelled edge (UK) or beveled edge (US) is an edge of a structure that is not perpendicular to the faces of the piece. The words bevel and chamfer overlap in usage; in general usage, they are often interchanged, while in technical usage, they ...
ed. The perimeter structure was constructed of prefabricated modular pieces 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 fil ...
plates. From the 7th floor to the ground level, and down to the foundation, the columns were spaced apart to accommodate doorways. All columns were placed on
bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...
65–85 feet (20–26 m) below the surface.


Structural features

The building's core housed the elevator and utility shafts, restrooms, three stairwells, and other support spaces. The core of each tower was a rectangular area 87 by 135 feet (27 by 41 m), and contained 47 steel columns running from the bedrock to the top of the tower. The South Tower's structural core was oriented with the long axis north to south. The core columns supported about half the towers' weight. All elevators were located in the core. Each building had three stairwells, also in the core, except on the
mechanical floor A mechanical floor, mechanical penthouse, mechanical layer or mechanical level is a story of a high-rise building that is dedicated to mechanical and electronics equipment. "Mechanical" is the most commonly used term, but words such as ''utilit ...
s. The large, column-free space between the perimeter and core was bridged by prefabricated floor trusses, which connected to the perimeter columns. Hat
truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), 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 ...
es (or "outrigger truss") located from the 107th floor to the top of the North and South towers were designed to support a tall communication antenna on top of each building. The South Tower never had an antenna fitted. 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. In designing the World Trade Center, Leslie Robertson considered the scenario of the impact of a jet airliner crashing into the building. 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 Outline of p ...
(NIST) found a three-page
white paper A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. Since the 199 ...
that mentioned another aircraft impact analysis, involving impact of a jet at , was indeed considered, but NIST could not locate the documentary evidence of the aircraft impact analysis. Sprayed-fire resistant materials (SFRMs),
gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, drywall and blackboard or sidewalk ...
wallboard, and
vermiculite Vermiculite is a hydrous phyllosilicate mineral which undergoes significant expansion when heated. Exfoliation occurs when the mineral is heated sufficiently; commercial furnaces can routinely produce this effect. Vermiculite forms by the weathe ...
were used to provide fireproofing to the interiors. More fireproofing was added after a fire in February 1975, but after the 1993 bombing, inspections found fireproofing to be deficient.. NIST lists upgraded floors as 92–100 and 102 plus 8 unspecified floors. The 1968 New York City building codes did not require sprinklers for high-rise buildings, except for underground spaces, but the entire complex was retrofitted by 2001.


Tenants

Note: Floor numbers in  red  are part of
United Airlines Flight 175 United Airlines Flight 175 was a domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport in California that was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of September 11, 2001, as ...
's impact area during the September 11 attacks, with floors above this zone marked in  dark gray .
NOTE:
Atlantic Bank of New York Atlantic Bank of New York is a bank holding company A bank holding company is a company that controls one or more banks, but does not necessarily engage in banking itself. The compound bancorp (''banc''/''bank'' + '' corp ration') or banc ...
had moved out in July 2001, but they were still paying for the rent as of September 2001.


Notes


References


Citations


Sources

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External links


Building: 2 World Trade Center - South Tower
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'' {{DEFAULTSORT:2 World Trade Center (1971-2001) 1973 establishments in New York City Buildings and structures destroyed in the September 11 attacks Lists of companies based in New York (state)
Two 2 (two) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 1 and preceding 3. It is the smallest and the only even prime number. Because it forms the basis of a duality, it has religious and spiritual significance in many ...
Manhattan-related lists Office buildings completed in 1973 Office buildings in Manhattan September 11 attacks World Trade Center