Who Is Really Designing The WTC Site?

Did you think that Libeskind won the competition to the design the new WTC site? You were wrong.

1 minute read

September 11, 2003, 7:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Daniel and Nina Libeskind thought they had figured out how to get a building built. Then they came to New York... Libeskind did not actually win the right to design the spire, however—or any other building on the site, for that matter—or even to determine precisely where it would be situated, although that was not entirely clear to most members of the public in the giddy weeks right before and after his design was selected... Silverstein claims to have the right to rebuild the Trade Center... He intended to do business the way he always had, and he wanted his own architect, David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, to design the tower... The Libeskinds are afraid of being chewed up by the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill machine... David Childs have been meeting regularly since their negotiations in July, but they have not agreed on a working design, and it is impossible to say whether the Freedom Tower will end up looking like Libeskind’s version, or Childs’s, or something entirely new."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Monday, September 15, 2003 in The New Yorker

Young Professional

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban and Environmental Planner

Get top-rated, practical training for planners

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

September 30, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

The largest wildlife overpass in North America stretching over the I-25. Both sides of the overpass, and the overpass itself, are covered in brown grass.

Record-breaking wildlife overpass in Colorado brings 91% reduction in animal collisions

Prior to the overpass, vehicles were hitting one deer per day on Colorado’s Interstate 25.

September 28, 2026 - CBS Colorado

Seagulls flying over the ocean in Texas.

If Corpus Christi can’t revive desalination plant project, it may owe Texas $235 million

Earlier this month, city officials declined to pursue developing the plant for the second time in a year.

September 25, 2026 - Inside Climate News

An old brick apartment building in NYC.

Mamdani sent nearly 6,000 pied-à-terre tax warnings to homes that didn’t qualify

A judge has ordered the administration to cancel thousands of pied-à-terre tax notices after it sent 35% of them erroneously.

4 seconds ago - The City Reporter

A rendering of the waterfront development, which shows a lit-up stage by the waterfront and people walking about.

Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment

Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.

October 2 - ABC 7

The mayor of Baltimore speaks into a microphone in front of a rally for more state transportation funding from Maryland.

‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan

Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.

October 2 - Baltimore Sun

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.

Senior Planner

City of Thousand Oaks

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design