Special

 GalleryViews / Special

 Lower Manhattan Development
 Corporation (LMDC) - Plans In Progress
 Winter Garden, West Street Between Vesey
 and Liberty Streets to February 2nd

This exhibition gives the viewing public the opportunity to see architectural models representing the second round of initial designs for rebuilding on the grounds of the World Trade Center.  Round one took place last July and, in the words of the accompanying pamphlet, ��sparked an energetic debate about the future of the World Trade Center site and the creation of a memorial� (note those words �energetic debate�). But more than this it offers a chance for the public to respond, which only makes sense due to the municipal nature of architecture. Whatever structures are eventually erected, nearly anyone having daily contact with downtown will be forced to interact with them given the size of the site.  The exhibition itself is very well presented in offering elegantly constructed models and accompanying sophisticated graphics & video.  As you walk into the Winter Garden from the west entrance it is just a matter of dodging left or right around the grand marble staircase and following the show around the rotunda space.  Halfway through, this conceptual presentation is broken up by an actual view of Ground Zero - an interesting reality check between virtual and actual scale.

The pamphlet further informs us that the 7 participating architects were garnered from a list of 406 submissions representing every continent except Antarctica (no surprise - count on one half of one hand how many buildings of distinction are found there and see how many fingers you have left).  The driving mandate for the architects was to create designs that �� include preserving the footprints of the twin towers for memorial related space, restoring a powerful, tall symbol in lower Manhattan�s skyline, improving connectivity within Lower Manhattan, and creating a grand promenade along West Street.  Additionally the teams were instructed to not design the actual memorial (this will be handled through a separate international design competition) but rather to create the context for it.

The World Trade Center site today

That aspect of soliciting public reaction to the designs by the LMDC is very refreshing.  With the original World Trade Center this was not the case; the whole complex was imposed on lower Manhattan with little regard for anyone living or working there.  This is not to say that there weren�t objectives to accommodate the area�s needs, it�s just that there was a disconnect between the backers & developers of the project and the surrounding neighborhoods. The result was that the Port Authority was stuck with a great deal of commercial space it was only able to fully lease to commercial residents in the last 10 years or so of the WTC�s existence. Everyone else was stuck with the gigantic towers and a massive plaza that was way too much out of proportion to function effectively as a public space. On the other hand, the problem with seeking reaction from the public is that some groups are inevitably going to be unhappy in the extreme - that and the danger of mediocrity when a design tries to hard too accommodate the majority.

As to the designs, it would appear that glass is the contemporary medium of choice. Another common theme is resurrecting the monoliths with some even taller then the original WTC. The problem with the latter is that there is too much of a direct acknowledgement of the original towers.  Part of this can be attributed to the LMDC�s  directive  to restore a �powerful, tall symbol in lower

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