Should The Twin Towers Be Rebuilt?

I here that they're considering rebuilding them, but would it be practical? Would there be enough people willing to go back up to make it profitable? I for one would't want an office up there, no way.


I've heard some patriotic points of view basically saying that we should rebuild them to show the world (including the terrorists)that we aren't down-and-out for the count, etc...


What do you think?

My first gut reaction was they should be rebuilt as quickly as opssible, and make 'em bigger than the first ones.


The problem, of course, is they may not be rentable, but I'm not so sure. I don't think there's been a stampede out of other tall buildings in N.Y. (at least I hope there hasn't been). One would hope that at least some of the space is used for a memorial as well.


Not too many prime spots in Manhattan don't have tall buildings on them. Friends of mine lost a child on the operating table when the child was about 1 year old, an indescribable sadness. She got pregnant again immediately and they had a healthy child (and another after that). I think this was a lifesver for them. The city of New York might also do this.

They were an architectural disaster!


But now, unfortunately, they have become much more than two butt-ugly buildings. They've been invested with powerful emotional symbolism. And emotion will overtake intellect in this.


My money is that they will be rebuilt no matter what.

My initial reaction was that they should be rebuilt with governmental assistance to be the two tallest, most beatuiful, most prominent, and best defended skyscrapers in the world. Kind of like Andy Fox's initial reaction. And usually I'm against governmental assistance in any building project. But at the time I thought they were still held by the Port Authority. The property has been leased by an individual or private group. So clearly he is going to rebuild for business reasons. I have read, however, that he is thinking along the lines of four 50-story towers rather than two 110 story ones. He does think tenants will shy away from huge buildings, but will rent in buildings that will fit in with the rest of Manhattan better.


I also liked the picture someone posted below.

According to the Paul Goldberger (I hope I have his name right) in the issue of the New Yorker with the "black" cover, the trend has been away from super tall buildings for some time now. The economics do not tend to be there. Too much space is wasted on lower floors on elevator shafts to get people to the upper floors.


Personally, I think that the whole area should be turned into a memorial park with a memorial tower built the same height as the WTC buildings. (Something along the lines of the CN tower in Toronto, only architecturally more interesting.)


However that is prime real estate (I assume it will remain prime real estate) so I don't expect much more than a small memorial park.

I think that they should be rebuilt in some form so that people can return to work there and thus, each day, make a powerful statement about how this country responds to terrorism. There should be a monument to be sure, but I think that using the space again is the best monument of all to our way of life.


However, I say "some form" because I don't think that two 110 story towers is a good idea from a security or economic point of view. I do think it would be harder to get tennants, especially on upper floors, now.


As a slight digression, I've never really liked the super-tall sky scrapers. When I'd been in the WTC I'd always been stuck at how vulnerable I felt, not to something this horrific which I never really considered, but just to some yahoo tossing an unfinished cigarette in a wastebasket and accidentally starting a fire. I wouldn't want to work up there every day 90 floors up even before the 11th.

They (used to) sit on some of the most valuable real estate in the world. Economics will prevail and that land will be re-developed. My guess is they will rebuild it and leave a corner of the property for some kind of memorial. Remember, it's about 8 acres of land, so there's plenty of room for a really impressive memorial while still rebuilding millions and millions of square feet of office space.


There is simply NO way that land is going to remain empty, not in that location. And the question of "should" is moot since it's owned by the NY/NJ port authority. The "people" have no choice in what happens to that land.


natedogg

....and no doubt you, like most USA haters, are gleeful about the devastation. The Twin Towers were an architectural perfection in that they imploded and didn't tip over. The devastation that would've been caused would have been more than just NYC downtown area - earthquake comes to mind, subways catastrophes up the wazoo. No Cyrus, in your glee to raise your fist in the air like the Palestinians trash you align yourself with, the Twin Towers actually saved lives in the way they came down.


Having said my two cents, I agree the twin towers should not be re-built. What parent would want to see their kid working on the 85th floor? I say, if you build something that big, the builders and politicians are forced to work in the upper floors.


Had a good argument with a typical knee-jerk hypocritical liberal. "Rebuild those suckers, let's show these terrorists we won't be intimidated" said she. When I asked her if she would want to see her kids working on the upper floors, her response right away was "Oh no, not my kids" Sounds just like a Kennedy to me!! I guess she was trying to tell me it's OK for OTHER PEOPLE'S KIDS TO DIE. Hypocrites and zionists. Life would be good without them.

You confuse Architecture with Civil Engineering, sir.


From a Civil Engineer's point of view, I have read no claim that the Towers were in any way faulty or weak in their construction. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact.


But ask any good Architect who's not fallen for Minoru Yamasaki's pseudo-rebellion against the "International Style". Ask him about the WTC. Chances are, he will point out one by one the grave mistakes in the design of the twin monstrosities and their incompatibility with the environs. Not to mention that they were constructed on top of about 60 square kilometers of previously vibrant NY urban life. A respected Architect called the project "an opportunity to create a New York masterpiece that was wasted in order to have a maginificent mediocrity".


No matter. As I said, my money is that the World Trade Center will be re-built. Probably even greater and grander too. A case of emotion over taste and intellect.


--Cyrus


PS : I'm sorry if you feel that my words are blasphemous since the rubble is still being cleaned. I am only saying what I believe to be the truth, irrespective of the circumstances.

They should be rebuilt and all floors above the 25th should be constructed as jails to hold only captured terrorists.

....we could even expand your idea to make it a federal mandate that all upper floors of the biggest buildings are turned into jails. Thus, a further deterrent against anti-social behavior?

Another positive to think about: how many fireman, policemen, or EMS workers would run back into a burning building to save a scumbag terrorist? Maybe, we save those heroic lives - maybe the next time the heroes of the WTC show up at the scene with charcoal lighter fluid and fry those fanatical islamic pigs.


aside to the pro-palestinian, pro-terrorist cyrus's of the world: i am NOT calling all people of islamic faith pigs - only the fanatics who kill innocent men, women, and children in the name of religion. Got it?

ALTHO I DONT CARE TOO MUCH ABOUT THEM JEWS EITHER. HELL IF IT WASNT FOR EM WE WOULDNT GET HIT BY THE OTHER BIN LOONIES THE DAMN ISLAMISTAS OR WHATEVER. THE HELL WITH THE LOT OF THEM I SAY. HAVE YOU MOTICED HOW ITS ALWAYS THE WHITE MANS FAULT FOR EVERY TROUBLE EVERY PARASITE IN THE WORLDGETS INTO????


HIT EM HARD BROTHER.

You could use serious, in depth help.

I consider not reconstructing the edifices(s) as a concession and acceptance.


I opposed replication of the exact structures as impractical because, as a symbol, it would always be a target and, as a practical matter, it may prove unrentable (would you want to work there?).