Where's The Imagination For Ground Zero?

The six proposed WTC design lack an understanding of the site's importance. A Flash gallery allows comparisons of the designs.

1 minute read

July 20, 2002, 1:00 PM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen

"But ultimately, the designs reveal how fixed many of the initial planning decisions seem to be. In each, significant portions of the street grid that was removed in the 1970s would be rebuilt, dividing the 16-acre site into smaller parcels. Part of West Street would be replaced by an underground tunnel to connect the site to nearby Battery Park City. About 11 million square feet of commercial office space and 600,000 square feet of retail space would be replaced. And all of the plans include a museum and one or two cultural venues. Most of these ideas were formulated within months of the September attacks.What the proposals lack is any sense of the site's importance as a monumental expression of one of the most tragic events in the nation's history."

Thanks to Laura Kranz

Read the full story: Ideas for Ground Zero: Where's the Imagination?

Saturday, July 20, 2002 in The Los Angeles Times

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