Imagining Ground Zero: The Official and Unofficial Proposals for the World Trade Center Site

Everything you need to see about the design proposals for the WTC site. It provides the visual aspect, that combined with "Up from Zero: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York" (ISBN: 1400060176), presents a comprehensive picture of who, what and when. Hundreds of illustrations showing also tech. details are beautifully printed in color on glossy paper on a very high level. They reveal brutally the shortcomings of proposals including the winning one and its evolution from the unrealistic wish that could not have been built at a reasonable cost (incl. the grim pit and gigantic free standing, enormously expensive spire for... coffee drinkers and directly in front of office tower windows) to its more feasible shape and surrounding changed (by others) so much that the overall plan stops resembling the winning proposal, as if the award was only a pretext to install the predetermined winner, and to have the actual planning done by others. CONTENTS: 7 Preface 9 Foreword 11 Time Line 12 Introduction 26 Official Proposals 32 Freedom Tower 36 Memorial Competition 48 World Trade Center Transportation Hub 52 Innovative Design Study 94 First Round in the Planning Process 104 Press-Generated Proposals 107 New York limes Magazine Proposals 119 New York Magazine Proposals 132 Max Protetch Invitational Exhibition 186 Independent Submissions 222 Bibliography 223 Acknowledgments 224 Illustration Credits

The architectural designs for the Ground Zero space were imaginative and inspiring. This book treats the various solutions comprehensively and respectfully. The solutions fell into 3 catagories, a memorial for the greatest American tragedy since Pearl Harbor, a huge transportation hub, and the rebuilding of office, retail and residential space. This book displays unofficial and unrequested designs to each or all solutions. A favorite was Hani Rashid and Lisa Anne Couture's skyscraper which reminds one of interlocking links of chain, and therefore conveys a feeling of security. The memorial should be at or near street level to maximize public viewing, so the ones that were many feet underground were not appealing. S E Campbell