Archinect - Features

After 9/11, a Tale of Two Cities: Eight Architects on the Changes New York Has Undergone in the Past Twenty Years

2021-09-11T07:26:00-04:00

As part of the landmark 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Archinect asked a series of architects with ties to New York City to reflect on changes that have defined the past two decades of life and architecture in the city.

Their responses represent a range of opinions as to how New York initially reacted to the attacks and how it has transformed in the intervening decades. For some, the city has developed into a small surveillance state with implications that have been felt around the world. For others, it has turned into a dreamland for designers and developers alike. For all of them, 9/11 was a touchstone that engendered changes to public memorials, office towers, and building science which have come to define architecture in the 21st century.

Scroll down for a collection of answers to our one-question prompt: How has New York City changed since 9/11?

The Collapse of the WTC Twin Towers Heralded a Wave of Reforms To Building Codes

2021-09-08T12:01:00-04:00

It is now almost 20 years since the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York were destroyed during a terrorist attack, killing 2,606 people within the two buildings. As is often the case following both natural and human-made disasters, the collapse of the Twin Towers prompted sweeping regulatory changes in how tall buildings are designed, constructed, and operated.

There Are Over a Thousand 9/11 Memorials Around the World. Here Are Just a Few You Probably Haven't Seen.

2017-09-11T12:22:00-04:00

I spent more than five years studying entries to the 2003 World Trade Center Memorial Design Competition, compiling them in my book “9/11 Memorial Visions” (McFarland & Co, 2016). Soon after, I learned that the New York City memorial is only one of many, and I thought, “There must be some interesting ones that have been built…”

Material Witness Finale: What Apocalypse Is Made Of

2014-12-04T17:27:00-05:00

Western civilization has never been particularly adept at dealing with death, which is perhaps why its own eventual collapse is such a source of cinematic fascination.