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The Rise and Fall of the World Trade Center the World Trade Center In The Rise and Fall of The World Trade Center by newsdesk The World Trade Center in New York City (sometimes informally referred to as the WTC or the Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings, mostly designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki and developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Best known for its iconic 110-story twin towers, the World Trade Center was beset by a fire on February 13, 1975 and a bombing on February 26, 1993. All of the original buildings in the complex were destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks. The World Trade Center included many structural engineering innovations in skyscraper design and construction. The towers were designed as framed tube structures, with columns grouped around the perimeter and within the core. Construction: Groundbreaking for the construction of the World Trade Center was on August 5, 1966. The construction was under the auspices of the semi-autonomous Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Thirteen square blocks of low rise buildings in Radio Row, some of which pre-dated the American Civil War, were razed to clear the site for construction. When completed in 1972, 1 WTC became the tallest building on Earth, unseating the Empire State Building after a 40 year reign. 2 WTC became the second tallest building in the world when completed in 1973. Life of the World Trade Center: On any given day, approximately 50,000 people worked in the towers, with another 200,000 passing through as visitors.The towers offered spectacular views from the observation deck (located on top of the South Tower) and the Windows on the World restaurant (located on top of the North Tower). The trade center had its many admirers, particularly visitors. For those who deemed it cold and sterile, there were just as many who appreciated its sheer grandeur; some even took advantage of it. French high wire acrobatic performer Philippe Petit walked between the towers on a tightrope in 1974, and Brooklyn toymaker George Willig scaled the south tower in 1977. The Twin Towers became known worldwide, appearing in movies, TV shows, postcards, merchandise, magazines and much more. The twin towers became a New York icon, such as the Empire State Building, or Statue of Liberty. Attacks on WTC: On February 26, 1993 at 12:17 PM, a Ryder truck filled with 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of explosives was planted by Ramzi Yousef and detonated in the underground garage of the North Tower, opening a 100 foot (30 m) hole through 5 sublevels of concrete leaving 50,000 workers and visitors gasping for air in the shafts of the 110 story towers. Many people inside the North Tower were forced to walk down darkened stairwells which contained no emergency lighting, some taking two hours or more to reach safety. As the Port Authority was a bi-state agency, the towers were exempt from New York City building codes. Subsequent to the bombing The Port Authority installed emergency lighting in the stairwells. It is believed that this lighting saved many lives during the events of September 11, 2001. September 11, 2001 On September 11, 2001 at 8:46 a.m., Al Qaeda suicide hijackers crashed American Airlines Flight 11 into the northern facade of the North Tower. Seventeen minutes later, 9:03 a.m., a second team of hijackers crashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower, which collapsed at 9:59 a.m. At 10:28 a.m., the North Tower collapsed. At 5:20 p.m., 7 World Trade Center collapsed. The four remaining buildings in the WTC plaza sustained heavy damage from debris, and were ultimately demolished. At the time of the incident, media reports suggested that tens of thousands might have been killed in the massacre, as on any given day upwards of 100,000 people could be inside the towers. Ultimately, 2,749 death certificates were filed relating to the 9/11 attacks, as of February 2005. Of these, 1,588 (58%) were forensically identified from recovered physical remains. Rebuilding the World Trade Center The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the agency charged with coordinating the reconstruction of the World Trade Center site, selected the master plan, Memory Foundations by Daniel Libeskind, which includes the 1,776 ft (541 m) Freedom Tower. The height of 1,776 feet (541 m) was chosen as a reference to the year of American independence. A new 7 World Trade Center office building, which was not part of the site master plan, officially opened on May 23, 2006. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation sponsored the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition, an international design competition for the World Trade Center Memorial in spring 2003. The winning design, Michael Arad and Peter Walker's Reflecting Absence, was chosen in January 2004. The Rise and Fall of The World Trade Center by newsdesk.
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