Archinect - News

Twenty years in the making, EarthCam pays tribute to the World Trade Center site with an epic time-lapse video

2021-09-10T15:32:00-04:00

Twenty years after 9/11, the popular geographic livestream site EarthCam has revealed its commemoration of the tragedy using footage taken from two decades of loss and rebuilding.

EarthCam founder Brian Cury installed the camera in the days following the attacks to document the monumental recovery effort taking place in lower Tribeca. The twenty-five-year-old company, which is headquartered just across the Hudson in Upper Saddle River, NJ, has been continuously recording the site since then, making it the longest-running time-lapse project in EarthCam history.

Now, with unseen footage taken by cameras that captured every day of the past twenty years in thirteen million individual photographs, the interregnum has been reduced to a six-minute encapsulation of the transformation of the sixteen-acre site from an active crime scene to an eerie void and finally to its current form as a tourist destination and memory site visited by over 6.5 million people per year.

“This creative time-lap...

New PBS documentary details the NYC Department of Design and Construction's World Trade Center cleanup

2021-09-10T14:11:00-04:00

A new documentary airing on PBS recounts the efforts of the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) as it spearheaded the gargantuan task of cleaning Ground Zero following the attacks on the World Trade Center 20 years ago.

“NYC DDC 9/11” by Ironbound Films features a collection of historic footage interspersed with interviews of DDC staff, offering a candid recollection of the events of 9/11. The documentary goes into detail about DDC’s steadfast process of removing 1.8 million tons of debris from the site.

“As the City faced one of its greatest crises in its history, DDC managed cleanup of the wreckage of lower Manhattan, even as the search for fellow New Yorkers continued,” said DDC Commissioner Jamie Torres-Springer. “This effort was predicted to take years, but DDC staff was able to accomplish it in eight months of long, hard, and emotionally difficult work. The story of this work is now told vividly by current and former DDC staff members who shared their unique insi...

Calatrava-designed Greek Orthodox church at World Trade Center site runs into funding issues, halts construction

2017-12-18T15:33:00-05:00

Construction at the site of the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox National Shrine at Ground Zero in New York City has been halted by the main construction company because the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America has defaulted on payments, according to a letter sent by the company to its subcontractors working at the site.

Image: Greek Orthodox Church in America

The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America acknowledged the payment issues and responded in a statement: "In light of recent financial difficulties at the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and in order to make certain that all operations and funds are being correctly managed, this difficult yet necessary step has been taken. The Archdiocese is confidently hopeful that construction will recommence in the very near future and has been assured by Skanska —the construction company responsible for building the church— that they are looking forward to the rescinding of this temporary suspension to continue working together in cooperation with the Archdiocese for the completion of the building project."

Image: Greek Orthodox Church in America

BBC talks to Santiago Calatrava about St Nicholas Church, the only non-secular building at Ground Zero

2015-01-09T13:21:00-05:00

After 13 years of negotiations with the region's Port Authority, work has begun on the Greek Orthodox church that will be the only non-secular building at Ground Zero. Many believe it will become one of the most visited churches in the US. It is planned to be completed by Easter 2017.

One World Trade Center: how New York tried to rebuild its soul

2014-09-08T13:20:00-04:00

When Ground Zero was finally cleared after the fall of the twin towers, New Yorkers trusted that thoughtful, ambitious urban design could make the city whole again. Why have they been so badly let down?

dbox Wins Emmy for “Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero”

2012-10-09T15:40:00-04:00

Who said architecture couldn't win you one of the world's most esteemed entertainment awards? This year's Emmy for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Graphic Design & Art Direction" went to dbox for its CGI and Branding work on the Discovery Channel's six part mini-series Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero.