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    World Trade Centre: Rising from the ashes

    The decision to reconstruct the fallen World Trade Centre was taken almost immediately after the September 11 attacks by impassioned New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani.


    “We are going to rebuild, we are going to come out of this stronger than we were before,” he announced just days after the atrocities. Insistent that the attacks would not break American spirits, President Bush joined Giuliani in the call to resurrect the iconic structures. Central to the plans were the memorial to those who lost their lives – with many possible tributes suggested by planners.

    World Trade Centre buildings

    Whilst the initial blueprints were being drawn together for the site, developer Larry Silverstein was able to start the reconstruction of 7 World Trade Centre [WTC] in 2002 – the third tower to collapse after the Twin Towers fell on September 11. Though not an integral part of architect Daniel Libeskind’s ‘World Trade Centre Master Plan’, 7 WTC was designed to suit the style of the main 1 WTC – commonly referred to as the ‘Freedom Tower’.

    7 WTC opened in May 2006 and is taller and narrower than its predecessor, standing at 741 feet. As yet this is the only completed tower in the World Trade Centre project – which is set to be fully complete by 2015. Centerpiece to Libeskind’s ‘Master Plan’ is 1 WTC which will stand 414 feet taller than the original Twin Towers. As the pinnacle of the site, 1 WTC will tower above the other four structures which decrease in size clockwise.

    The ‘Freedom Tower’ as it has become known, is set to open in 2013 – two years before the completion of the 2, 3 and 4 WTC towers. ‘The Freedom Tower’ will differ in style and design from the original Twin Towers, featuring a central spire seen on the Empire State and Chrysler buildings. Avoiding the construction of a carbon copy was decision taken to commemorate rather than replace the Twin Towers.
        
    World Trade Centre memorial

    “I don’t think the two towers, as they existed before, should be put up in that manner,” Giuliani said in 2001. “I think that you have to begin with a beautiful, inspirational and fitting memorial. We have to accept the fact that this is going to be the burial ground for many people – so it will be a sacred place,” he added.

    The main WTC memorial consists of the two largest manmade waterfalls in North America, both nearly an acre in size. The ‘memory pools’, conceptualized by architects Michael Arad and Pete Walker, were built on the foundations of the Twin Towers and contain the inscribed names of the near 3000 people who perished in the terror attacks.

    [Gallery: Rebuilding the World Trade Centre]

    Also memorialised on the pools are the names of the seven who lost their lives in the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing, an attack which occurred below the WTC North Tower. The inscriptions are split between the north (WTC North Tower, Flight 11 and 1993 attack victims) and south (WTC South Tower, Flight 175, Pentagon, Flight 77 and Flight 93 victims) ‘memory pools’.

    The pools are situated in the ‘Memorial Plaza’ which will have more than 400 trees conveying “a spirit of hope and renewal”. Each tree was specifically harvested by crews from within a 500-mile radius of the WTC site, supplemented by ones coming from locations in Pennsylvania and Washington DC impacted by the terror attacks. The memorial will open 11 September to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the atrocity.
     
    World Trade Centre Memorial Museum

    Housing memories and artifacts from the original Twin Towers, the World Trade Centre Museum will be located between the north and south ‘memory pools’. The site attests to “the triumph of human dignity over human depravity and affirms an unwavering commitment to the fundamental value of human life”.

    Some of the more poignant exhibits within the museum will include a recording of flight attendant Betty Ong moments before her death onboard American Airlines Flight 11 and images of people plummeting to their death from the collapsing towers. Pictures of the 19 hijackers will also be presented as ‘criminals’, confirmed museum director Alice Greenwald.
     
    The museum’s historical exhibition is split into three parts – ‘The Day 9/11’, ‘Before 9/11’ and ‘After 9/11’. Each will contain film, images, audio and artifacts to chart the history of the World Trade Centre. By 2015 the reconstruction of the World Trade Centre site will be complete with the museum, ‘memory pools’ and five WTC towers.

     

    186 comments

    • Hugh M  •  8 months ago
      "Freedom" for who? US Freedom to invade any country who dares to disagree with them, freedom to kill anybody the want to Freedom bully the rest of the world.
    • Hugh M  •  8 months ago
      Will ‘After 9/11’. include stories of the thousands of innocent people are still being kidnapped, tortured and killed by America and her allies for being members of the "wrong" religion
    • Hugh M  •  8 months ago
      Good maybe someone will demolish this one for the political gain and cash too!
    • Jaye  •  8 months ago
      I thought after 10 years, watching the attack video again will not haunt me anymore..but I was wrong, have been watching many 9/11 attack documentaries on the History Channel, saw a lots of horrific images and becos of that, I have no slept in 2 days.....everytime, I closed my eyes, i will see those images of the victims bodies and blood all over.
    • Kahmeng Ho  •  8 months ago
      good spirit!
    • PieMe Pie U  •  8 months ago
      bla...bla...bla...America like to act tough and rude to the World but once got hit they brag for centuries. How abt those innocent people, children, families your soldiers had killed? Push under the rug? Time to mirror yourself, dont keep blaming on others. Seriously...you start the fire...
      • Imation 8 months ago
        Killing people in wars is NOT the same as killing people using terrorists. If you think someone punching you in public and challenging you to a fight can be later retaliated with you hiding behind the tree and stabbing him suddenly in his back, you're badly mistaken.

        One is open and aboveboard, the other are acts of cowards. And no, that coward that then says "you started the fire"...still remains a coward.
    • Eric  •  8 months ago
      I know this is very sad story but can we move on? People are dying everyday around the world. Life goes on...so why every year for just 9/11?
    • Pat  •  8 months ago
      Oh give it up already. Do we have to keep having these anniversaries every year?
      • yvet 8 months ago
        imagine one of yr close relatives are one of the victim. pls think before u speak!
      • Wendy 8 months ago
        Pls put yourself in the shoes of the family of any victim. By reading those articles, I already feel sad for them and yet you can talk without feeling.
    • Pretty  •  8 months ago
      Religion can and HAVE produced many good people like Prince Gautama (Buddha) and Mother Teresa. But religion can produce evil people too, if not regulated and moderated properly. Religious leaders must ensure that the "holy books" are interpreted moderately!
      • PieMe Pie U 8 months ago
        YOU ARE FULL OF SHITAKE!! :))
      • S 8 months ago
        any religious comments should be wipe off yahoo, if comment 2, 3 times ban the account.
    • C  •  8 months ago
      Is it pork week at Gitmo? Pork with a side of pork rinds and pork juice.No toilet paper either.Choice of Koran pages or pictures of Allah to wipe with.
    • Pretty  •  8 months ago
      I really don't understand people who believe in conspiracy theories. It's like they live in a fantasy world where EVERY BAD EVENT is conspired and orchestrated. They insist on their imaginary theories even though hard evidence has been shown to prove them wrong. Delusional I say.
      • Guided By Voices 8 months ago
        Delusional....Hmmmm....Have you ever mirrored yourself and ask this very same question?
        Too bad everyone just get to live once and then rot into dust. Even more excruciating when that one life you've got don't turn out as the way you've always wanted...?
        Being delusional can be self fulfilling at times.
    • Samm  •  8 months ago
      the act of resilience is what makes us stronger despite the numerous conflicts between and within countries.
    • OMG ! ! !  •  8 months ago
      I am against any war or conflict that kills or targets innocent children, defenseless woman and the elderly.
      Other than that, they can kill, maim and destroy each other for all I care and till kingdom come ! ! !
      The world have enough nuclear weapons to destroy the earth hundred times over.
      Just think of that .... Any time ! SIGH !
    • toryboy  •  8 months ago
      yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn, get over it usa, move on, the uk endured 30 year of these attacks from the ira,. which americans funded, its that special relationship,ha,ha, bullshit, what a 100 per cent boring day, lets all move on its no big deal, hardly ww2.
      to the usa, i would say, your not as great, god given, and safe as you smugly thought you were.
      ROCK ON
      • Stylez 8 months ago
        ayo! TOYboy you sound like a terrorist! get the hell outta America! animals like you make people sick to their stomach! you make dumb people sound smart! this day we will never forget! and its wonderful of the Government to build-up a something like this for the people who lost their lives and for who lost their loved ones!
        you SOB! GET OUTTA USA!
        how dare you call it a boring day?
      • S 8 months ago
        Stylez don't over acting, they are not only who lost their loved ones. so many lost their loved ones and remember that everybody meant to die since the day they born. so don't over acting, keep moving on. 1 day u must follow them. just cut the c@#$%... and move on.
    • Zaza  •  8 months ago
      For whatever reasons we post comments here, we should think of all religion. This world is full of hatred. If we criticised another religion, we are no better than them the terrorist you claimed. It's individual sentiment and opinions of how you want to picture all these. There are missing pieces here and there. Don't be emotional and get carried away as we never knows when an enemy will help us when the need arises. God bless, peace, no war!
    • ah mah keng  •  8 months ago
      muslim now has a lot to do to let the whole planet believe them again they are sincere peaceful human in this earth,,,i yet to see the action except those terror acts from palestine, arab, pakistan,afghanistan. they let down allah.
    • Off the Cuff  •  8 months ago
      Ordinary people going about their daily business suddenly became victims for the wrongdoings their government had been engaged in over decades. The tragedy of 9/11 and the response it got from around the world is a tragedy that may possibly have got little or no attention if it had happened in a third world country or a country occupied by American military forces. This does not take away from the terrible loss of innocent lives on that faithful day; it does not make a multitude of wrongs justified by the killing of innocent people. When the first plane crashed into the world trade centre it demonstrated in a most terrifying way that America was not immune from the violence and destruction that is happening around the world and more especially if that violence and destruction is supported and backed by financial, military or other assistance from the American government. The Eleventh of September 2001 changed the western world forever. For the very first time the events of 9/11 showed the people of the world what violence and destruction can do when governments attempt to arm insignificant groups who they turn on their masters and reign terror and destruction on those who had no hand or part in the initial cause that led to that destruction. America has a bad record for upholding the principle of human rights when it comes to people not of American nationality. The insatiable desire by the American state to invade a country once it feels its interests are not being served by the controlling regime is one of the main reasons why the world is constantly on a war footing. Afghanistan, Iraq, Vietnam, Korea and a multitude of other countries where the United States held or enforced its influence have become melting pots for revenge and destruction by political and religious groups who see the western world as compromising of infidels. The spread of capitalism and the devastating influence it has on people and their cultures is a stark reminder that the free world is not as free as what we are led to believe. Politicians in America as will politicians from around the world, stand united in grief and remembrance for those who lost their lives but the following day will go back to their old ways of conflict, corruption and oppression. Politicians in the western world have driven a wedge between what they perceive as being a source of evil, Islam, and the western way of life. The western world has many attributes that draw people from very many different faiths and cultures to the west but politicians attempt to compromise those attributes in order to accommodate faiths and cultures that see themselves and insist on being seen as different within western cultures. In most European countries it is illegal not to wear a crash helmet when on a motorcycle, yet Sikhs are allowed to drive without helmets. In the England you have the Black Police Officers Association, an association that indirectly and possibly racially proclaims itself as being of predominately black membership. We experience notices that tell us to remove our helmets when entering banks, yet Muslims who dress from head to toe like ghosts walk into banks freely. Small exceptions that antagonise the majority of people who are forced to abide by the law, people who are told they can speak their mind but are conditioned to speaking their mind once it conforms to what others want to hear. Let us hope that the events of the 11th September 2001 will be a turning point for American policy concerning the rest of the world. We all occupy this small planet, we all breath the same air and we are all mortal. The American people have stood proud and strong in the wake of this terrible tragedy. Their experience of a tragedy beyond all comprehension must be an awakening message that says another tragedy like the one on the 11th September 2001 must never happen again no-matter what country is exposed to the threat of such a disaster. We now know the world must change.

      Rest in Peace
    • R LAMB  •  8 months ago
      My wife and i were in the USA at the time of 9/11 but not in New York. We have been back to Ground Zero and found it very emotional. God Bless You All.
    • Melloney  •  8 months ago
      http://rememberbuilding7.org/10/
    • Melloney  •  8 months ago
      http://rememberbuilding7.org/10/
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