Revealed: Designs for Final World Trade Center Tower

2 WTC was designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and already has a tentative lease agreement with Rupert Murdoch’s media companies, 21st Century Fox and News Corp.

2 minute read

June 9, 2015, 10:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


One World Trade Center

Steve Heap / Shutterstock

Wired, and an article by Andrew Rice, wins the bonanza as the media outlet to break the big reveal of the final tower designed for the World Trade Center site in New York City.

According to Rice, the design concept is the result of a super-secret design process known as Project Gotham, led by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. Once complete the project will become the headquarters of Rupert Murdoch’s media companies, 21st Century Fox and News Corp.

Bjarke Ingels describes his design concept in a video included with the article, saying that the project, when viewed from Tribeca, will be "like a vertical village of singular buildings, each tailored to their individual activities, stacked on top of each other, forming parks and plazas in the sky." Viewed from the World Trade Center, explains Ingels, "the individual blocks unite, completing the spiral of towers framing the memorial." Then the video follows with the soaring three dimensional renderings and animated interior shots of the proposed design.

Rice also makes the point that the long process of redeveloping the World Trade Center, once beset by political infighting, has given way in its final chapters to the realities of the real estate market in Manhattan. "The once-dowdy area known as the Financial District has been transformed by an influx of companies from the advertising, design, and tech industries," writes Rice.

The article includes a lot more detail about the design of the building, including similarities between how the buildings will work for Murdoch's companies and designs by Ingels for Google on the other side of the country.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015 in Wired

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 23, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

Passengers board an Amtrak train under a cloudy sky.

Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement

The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.

September 18, 2026 - Mass Transit

An Airo train driving towards the camera on a track. There is a forest behind it.

Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet

Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.

September 22, 2026 - Washington State Standard

Two people in hi-vis vests install solar panels on a blue roof.

Trump administration unlawfully slashed $7 billion in clean energy grants, judge rules

The Environmental Protection Agency ended the Solar For All program, which provided the grants, after President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

September 28 - Inside Climate News

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 - CBS Colorado

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks with both hands half-raised. Two American flags, and the flag of California, are behind him.

California lawmakers approve just 5% of much-needed LA28 transportation funding

State legislators appear just as unwilling as Trump to pay for Olympics-related transportation projects.

September 28 - LA Times

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