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A revised version of one of the world’s most high-profile architectural projects by Foster + Partners is now being circulated online as new renderings have surfaced that depict the firm’s upgraded Two World Trade Center design. The London-based firm was added back onto the... View full entry
The fight for affordable housing in New York City has come to one of Lower Manhattan’s most important developments in recent memory. An online petition organized by the New York Review of Architecture and Citygroup has been circulating that appears to call for a 75% increase in the number of... View full entry
I was staying at a friend’s apartment in the heart of Hollywood on the evening of September 10th, 2001. I had to wake up unnaturally early the next morning to move my car to avoid getting a parking ticket. I vividly recall the eery feeling squeezed into the tiny old elevator as I descended the... View full entry
Back in 2015, Foster + Partners' design was shelved for a more favorable by the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG). At the time, it looked like News Corporation and 21st Century Fox were slated to lease the building but backed out a year later. "Now that BIG’s quirky tower of stacked boxes has no takers... View full entry
Two years after a lack of funds halted construction of a marble-clad Greek Orthodox church at New York's World Trade Center site, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Greek Orthodox officials announced plans Thursday to resume construction with the goal of finishing the rebuilding by the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. — The New York Times
The troubled Santiago Calatrava-designed St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the World Trade Center appears to have received the blessing from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after the project fell victim to acute cost overruns and had to eventually halt construction in... View full entry
Two state agencies that had been embroiled in a yearslong impasse over how to develop the last site at the World Trade Center appear to have resolved their differences and are planning to bring the parcel to market.
The Port Authority and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. have reached a deal to release a request for proposals in the coming months for 5 World Trade Center
— Crain's New York
Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) head Holly Leicht explained in a meeting that "after quite a lengthy period of time of negotiation, we executed a memorandum of understanding with the Port, the LMDC and the city to move forward on an RFP for Site 5, which will be our last major site... View full entry
The skylight that crowns the spiky, $3.9 billion World Trade Center Oculus has sprung a leak.
A rubber seal that runs along the spine of the retractable skyline is believed to have ripped during its opening and closing on the 2018 anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, The Wall Street Journal reports.
— Curbed NY
"Some $30,000 by The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was spent this winter to repair the tear using black strips of Flex Tape, but the skylight at the massive transportation hub and shopping mall leaked again on May 5," Curbed summarizes the WSJ's account. The Santiago... View full entry
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. — Pappas Post
Image: Greek Orthodox Church in AmericaThe 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... View full entry
In a ceremony packed with construction workers, news crews, and real estate folk, the final bucket of concrete made its way to the top of 3 World Trade Center, marking the topping out of this 1,079-foot supertall tower. The 80-story building was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners and spans 2.5 million square feet. Once complete in 2018, it will be the fifth tallest tower in New York City. — Curbed NY
↑ Silverstein Properties Chairman Larry A. Silverstein (right) and Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Executive Director Pat Foye at the topping out ceremony signing the final bucket of concrete.↑ This rendering shows what the completed 1,079-ft tower will look like.Related... View full entry
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey...has been so chastened by the cost overruns and construction delays that it declined to hold even a modest ribbon-cutting. When a bureaucracy turns down a major opportunity to pat itself on the back, you know things have turned sour. Turned acid, really.
Still, everyone seems to agree that the main hall, which stretches beneath a glass and white-steel roof and which Calatrava calls the Oculus, is beautiful. But I didn't find it beautiful...
— the Los Angeles Times
"...at least not in the way that Calatrava's finest work, fluid and precise, often is. I found it structurally overwrought and emotionally underwhelming, straining for higher meaning, eager to wring some last drops of mournful power from a site that is already crammed with official, semi-official... View full entry
The hub opens on Thursday, or at least a part of it is opening, including most of the main hall, or Oculus, as it’s called. And at first blush, Mr. Calatrava’s architecture can almost — almost — make you forget what an epic boondoggle the whole thing has been. That virgin view, standing inside the Oculus and gazing up, is a jaw-dropper. — The New York Times
For a blow-by-blow of how Santiago Calatrava's transit hub came to be, check out Archinect's previous coverage:Port Authority officially confirms March opening date for WTC Transportation Hub OculusLeaking water delays opening of World Trade Center Transit Hub's luxury shopping mallMassive 'spine'... View full entry
Sure, the news was all but confirmed, but today the Port Authority made it official: The transit org announced that the World Trade Center Transportation Hub—anchored by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava's Oculus—will officially open in "the first week of March," per a press release. [...]
What that actually means for commuters: There will finally be a link between the World Trade Center PATH station and 11 NYC subway lines, along with the East River ferries.
— ny.curbed.com
Read the Port Authority's announcement in full here. The WTC Transportation Hub previously in the Archinect news: Leaking water delays opening of World Trade Center Transit Hub's luxury shopping mallMassive 'spine' skylight in Calatrava's WTC Oculus nears completionNYMag talks to Santiago... View full entry
Rupert Murdoch has dropped his plans to relocate 21st Century Fox and News Corp. to 2 World Trade Center.
In a statement issued Friday afternoon, World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein declared himself “disappointed” by the news. [...]
In June, the two media companies signed a letter of intent with Silverstein to occupy 1.5 million square feet for 30 years at a 2 World Trade Center designed by architect Bjarke Ingels.
— capitalnewyork.com
2 WTC previously in the Archinect news:2 World Trade Center receives $9M rent assistance from Port Authority to expedite projectBjarke Ingels and the challenges of designing Two World Trade Center2 World Trade Center Could Be the Most Expensive Office Tower in the World View full entry
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved subsidies to help expedite the construction of lower Manhattan’s 2 World Trade Center [...].
Developer Silverstein Properties Inc., which leases the sites for 2 World Trade Center and two other towers from the Port Authority, would receive a rent break that amounts to $9 million over the life of the lease [...].
The agency had previously maintained that 2 World Trade would be built entirely without public assistance.
— bloomberg.com
Previously in the Archinect news: Bjarke Ingels and the challenges of designing Two World Trade Center2 World Trade Center Could Be the Most Expensive Office Tower in the WorldPort Authority reveals plan to sell World Trade Center site View full entry
Since July, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) has been working with an anonymous architectural firm to hash out a new concept for the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, and now, nearly five months later, the Performing Arts Center board has finally released the name of the lead architect: Brooklyn-based studio REX led by Joshua Prince-Ramus, a former protégé starchitect Rem Koolhaas. — 6sqft
