The World Trade Center Under Construction Through Photos, 1966-1979

Summary

The World Trade Center project was initiated in the early 1960s through the influence of David Rockefeller in part to reclaim a part of the city that had fallen on hard times. The vision was meant to use the trade facility and urban renewal as tools to clear and revitalize what had become a “commercial slum”. The construction of the towers yielded not only a new frontier for business but also the landfill for a new shore on the banks of the Hudson. The project, developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey,r was originally planned to be built on the east side of Lower Manhattan, but the New Jersey and New York state governments could not agree on this location. Original architectural and engineering model. This model is now on permanent display at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. After extensive negotiations, the New Jersey and New York state governments agreed to support the World Trade Center project, which was built at the site of Radio Row in the Lower West Side of Manhattan, New York City. After a search that engaged dozens of architects and many months, Yamasaki’s firm, of Troy Michigan, was chosen as the design architect and Emery Roth & Sons as associate architects for the assemblage of buildings that were to comprise 5 of the buildings within the World Trade Center complex, including both towers. At the time, Yamasaki was part of a loose grouping of architects that attended to the needs of the new ideas of urban renewal and mixed-use megadevelopment. His use of primary forms and simple ornamentation allowed for the functional needs of the new and often very large forms of low-income housing projects and the new and ever-larger office buildings being commissioned by American and multi-national corporations. He was well enough known in 1963 to be chosen for the cover of Time magazine. At the same moment, he was much criticized for his almost servile attendance to the needs of large corporations. And yet, Yamasaki brought a certain s...