World Trade CenterThe Towers&The Memorial

The presentation model of the World Trade Center

The Twin Towers• At 110 stories each, 1 WTC (North Tower) and 2 WTC (South

Tower) provided nearly 10-million-square feet of office space for about 35,000 people and 430 companies.

• Attracting around 70,000 tourists and commuters every day, they were the tallest buildings in New York City, and for a brief period upon their completion, they were the tallest buildings in the world.

• On a clear day, views extended 45 miles from the top of the towers in every direction – far enough to see all five New York City boroughs, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Twin Towers Facts• Each weighed more than 250,000 tons, contained 99 elevators

and had 21,800 windows. • Each floor was an acre in size and there was enough concrete

in the towers to build a sidewalk from New York City to Washington, D.C.

• The complex even had its own zip code: 10048. • The Twin Towers were completed in 1973

Twin Towers Facts• In February 1993, terrorists with links to an Islamist extremist

group detonated explosives in a van parked underneath the WTC.

• Six people were killed and thousands were injured.

• On September 11, 2001, as part of a series of coordinated suicide attacks, two planes struck both towers .

• 2, 753 victims were killed in the attack on the WTC.

The Attacks

The Immediate Reaction

Post 9/11

The Memorial• An international design competition was held in 2003 for

selecting the design for a national memorial to remember and honor the people killed in terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993.

• Design submissions totaled 5,201 and were received from 63 nations.

• The winner of this contest: "Reflecting Absence" by Michael Arad

Components of “Reflecting Absence”

• Two reflecting pools with the largest man-made waterfalls in the United States

• Deciduous trees bordering open spaces• The names of each person who died in both this attack and

the 1993 bombing in bronze panels along the sides of the pool.

• Memorial pavilion

The Design

Questions to Consider:

• 1. What do you think is significant about the number and placement of the pools?• 2. What is symbolic about deciduous

trees?• 3. Why did the designer include wide

open spaces?

The 9/11 Memorial• The 9/11 Memorial will be dedicated on September 11, 2011

the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in a ceremony for victims’ families.

• It will open to the public on September 12, 2011 and will welcome visitors who have reserved advance passes

• The 9/11 Memorial Museum will open in September 2012

• http://www.911memorial.org/wtc-history