20th Dec, 2003

New WTC design

The new design of the WTC has been unveiled (photos) – after Daniel Libeskind was forced to compromise on his original monstrosity. I don’t particularly like the new design either – the top third is just a useless lattice – with a wind turbine added in for “environmental” reasons. Still, it will be the tallest building in the world at 1,776 feet – a nice touch. The entire WTC project is estimated to cost $12 billion, with $5 billion being paid by taxpayers.
One further comment: some people are questioning whether the new tower could withstand another 9-11 style attack. While the tower should be designed with all reasonable safety precautions in mind, withstanding a 9-11 type of attack should not be a consideration. Terrorism is not and should not be regarded as a natural and inevitable phenomenon – it is the job of the security agencies to prevent terrorist acts, not the job of architects, airlines, and engineers to waste their resources on building terrorist-proof facilities. The hundreds of billions spent on terrorist-proofing everything from airports to credit card processing centers should be regarded as an unnecessary expense made necessary by the failure of America’s foreign policy and security agencies, not a natural part of doing business.
(See my previous post on the WTC.)

Posted by: David

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I love this: While the tower should be designed with all reasonable safety precautions in mind, withstanding a 9-11 type of attack should not be a consideration. Terrorism is not and should not be regarded as a natural and inevitable phenomenon – it is the job of the security agencies to prevent terrorist acts, not the job of architects, airlines, and engineers to waste their resources on building terrorist-proof facilities.

Bravo!

By: Trey Givens UNITED STATES on December 22nd, 2003
at 9:59 am

I agree completely. It is not possible to anticipate every contingency. The original WTC towers were designed to cope with an accidental 707 crash, we must recall. But not a deliberate attack using a larger plane. I also disagree with the idea of letting the next of kin of the 9/11 attack decide the future economic future of NYC. A LOT of bad stuff happened in NYC over the years. Not even a plaque commemorates the Triangle Shirt Fire, or the steamer “General Slocum” Disaster (the worst loss of life in NYC until 9/11). I am sorry for their loss, but the most important thing is putting back the office space, the support community and the jobs that went with it. The worst thing we can do to the terrorists is to go on with our lives.

By: Lee Russell UNITED STATES on January 7th, 2004
at 5:30 am

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