The World Trade Center, New York

The new World Trade Center in New York is a place that evokes a sense of grandeur with its strikingly tall and beautiful buildings, but at the same time the visitor cannot escape the feeling of sadness and reverence for the victims who innocently died in the attack of September 11, 2001.

Before 2001, the World Trade Center was an icon of New York City, and the Twin Towers were among the top ten most famous landmarks of the multimillion dollar city. The World Trade Center was an architectural complex of seven buildings on 65 acres in South Manhattan, N.Y. The idea to create this impressive complex was the brainchild of David Rockefeller (1915-2017)-son of Rockefeller Jr. The design of the grandest buildings in the complex, the Twin Towers, was commissioned to two architects-Japanese-American Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986) and Israeli-American Emery Roth-(1871-1948). The first groundbreaking took place in 1966, and the total construction cost was $900 million. Framed tubes were provided for the towers' structures, speeding up the construction process. A portion of the buildings were completed in 1970. During a press conference in 1973, Yamasaki was asked," Why two 110-story buildings? Why not one 220-story building?" His answer was, "I didn't want to lose the human scale."

The North Tower is the tallest building in the world with its 417 m, 110 floors and 72 elevators. It was completed in 1970.After the addition of the telecommunication antenna in 1978, the highest point of the North Tower reached 530 m. In the North Tower on the 106th floor is the restaurant called Windows on the World, which was opened in 1976 by American restaurateur Joe Baum( 1920-1998). He invested $17 million in equipment, furnishings and design.

In addition to the main restaurant in the North Tower, there were two smaller restaurants of his- one offered a Danish buffet during the day and sushi in the evening; the other was a Wine Bar that offered a wine course led by the famous American educator and entertaining wine teacher Kevin Zraly. The ambiance and service at Window on the World was so exquisite that Ruth Reichl, who has established herself as a food critic, exclaims, "At Windows, New York is the main course."

Construction of the South Tower was completed in 1973 and it became the second tallest building in the world within a few years - 412 meters. It houses an observatory on the 107th floor, and the observation deck offers an impressive view. From the 107th floor, the roof was reached by an escalator from where, on a clear day, the visibility of the landscape is 80 km.

In addition to the two towers, there were five other smaller buildings in the World Trade Center complex, one of which was the 1981 Vista Hotel, a beautiful 22-storey building with 825 rooms. An office building of 47 floors, with a trapezoidal base and red masonry from 1987, was another unique building in the complex.

The World Trade Center has been the arena of many cultural events. In 1974, the French acrobat Philippe Petit walked between the two towers on a tightrope. In 1977, the famous climber George Willig, climbed the South Tower in 3.5 hours. In addition, the World Trade Center has appeared in 472 movies, one of which was 1978's Superman. The complex has also been featured in countless videos, cartoons, comic books, television games and shows.

But it so happens that this extraordinary complex, the brainchild and handiwork of thousands of workers, collapses in just about two hours.

On the morning of 11 September 2001, Islamist terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, which crashed between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Seventeen minutes later, another hijacked United Airlines plane hits between the 77th and 85th floors and the South Tower. Two hours later, both towers had collapsed, and the other buildings in the complex were half destroyed ca the damage was extensive. About 3 thousand people died according to official figures and all 157 people on board the planes. The clean-up process has been going on for 8 months.

One of the world's largest stores of valuables was located under the World Trade Center. Seven weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks, all valuables in precious metals and gold were removed from the vaults.

As early as 2002, planning began for a new World Trade Center, no less grand than the previous one. The new World Trade Center includes five towers, a memorial to the victims of the attacks, a public transportation center, and 550 thousand square meters of retail and cultural event space.

The first building in the complex is an office building that opened in 2006. The new building has 52 floors and is the first office retail building in New York City to be certified as a leader in energy and environmental design.

The main building in the complex reaches 104 floors, but in 2012, with the addition of the antenna tower , the skyscraper reached a height of 541.3 meters and became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third-tallest in the world. The height itself, measured in feet-1776, symbolizes the year the United States declared independence. This building is considered the safest in America, as it is built on a 70-ton concrete slab, and the steel beams are covered with a fireproof material. The stairs are sturdy and wider for freer movement in case of an accident. The observation platforms on the 100th and 102nd floors offer fascinating views. In 2014, the new skyscraper welcomed its first tenants.

In June 2018, the 80-story building of the third completed skyscraper in the New World Trade Center was opened. Designed by architect Richard Rogers and built by developer Larry Silverstein, it is the fifth tallest in New York City at 329 feet. The skyscraper is covered with 10,000 panels of tempered mirror glass, cooled gradually to reduce internal stress, meaning it will not shatter into small pieces in the event of an impact.

On the 17th, 60th and 76th floors there are outdoor terraces from where the beautiful Manhattan landscapes can be observed. On the 68th floor there is a huge drawing on the wall depicting a dancer in a red dress. The rest of the floor space is dedicated to the works of street artists.

The other architectural marvel in the new World Trade Center complex is a transportation hub called Oculus, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The exterior of the station resembles a huge white bird with outstretched wings. Numerous metro lines and trains pass through this transport hub, and the interior houses over 100 shops and restaurants.

The architects and designers charged with designing the New World Trade Centre have incorporated the remains of the demolished complex very well. The memorial is located mainly on the site of the Twin Towers and several of the collapsed buildings of the former Trade Center and is meant to symbolize both the immeasurable human loss and the rebirth of life.

The memorial complex is called "Reflection on Absence" and is the work of Israeli-American architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker. Surrounding the two pools at the site of the Towers are concrete curbs inscribed with the names of the victims of the 9/11 attack. Some 400 trees have been planted around them, among which stands out the 'Survivor Tree' found among the rubble of the Towers. Underground in the space between the two pools is the Wall of Remembrance. It is made up of 2 983 plaques coloured in different shades of blue in memory of the victims of the 9/11 attack.

The National Memorial was unveiled on September 11, 2011, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the attack. Each year on this day, the names of all the victims are read out in Memorial Park to a background of sad music and bell ringing. And in the evening, at 7pm, an installation made up of 88 floodlights is activated, beaming light in two beams about 6km high into the sky that resemble the collapsed Twin Towers.

The museum opened in 2014 and is mostly located below the Memorial to the Victims of the Bombing. The museum displays over 500 photographs from September 12 to 16 after the attack, videos of the former shopping mall, and artifacts. The museum's huge underground hall contains part of a retaining wall of one of the Twin Towers, on which messages from members of rescue teams are inscribed.

If you visit New York, the New World Trade Center and Memorial Park are iconic landmarks that should not be passed up, they are must-sees...