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World Trade Center History continued...
The World Trade Center history is full architectural firsts. The idea of a World Trade Center complex had been under consideration since the end of World War Two. In the 1950's, the Port Authority began to take interest in the project. Then, later in 1962, the site for the complex was chosen. A superblock bounded by Vesey, Liberty, Church and West Streets would be the site for the new World Trade Center.
In order to build such a phenomenon, a virtual all-star team was assembled. Minoru Yamasaki was chosen to design the project. Architects Emery Roth & Sons handled the production work and, at the request of Yamasaki, the firm of Worthington, Skilling, Helle and Jackson served as the engineers.
The Port Authority was very specific in its vision for the World Trade Center. They wanted a complex that would feature 10 million square feet of office space. In order to accomplish this task, Yamasaki considered more than 100 different building configurations. He finally settled on twin towers and three low-rise structures. This design also served a practical purpose. The height of the towers would maximize the area of the plaza. Originally, the towers were to be built to a height of 80 or 90 stories. However, at the suggestion of the public relations department of the Port Authority, it was decided that the towers would be built to be the tallest buildings in the world.
The team was now faced with the daunting task of designing towers for the World Trade Center that would not only be functional, but that would also lay claim to the world's tallest buildings. In order to do this, the engineers came up with an innovative structural model. A “hollow tube”, made of closely spaced steel columns with floor trusses extended across to a central core. The columns, which were finished with a silver-colored aluminum alloy, were spaced so close together that from a far distance, the towers appeared to have no windows. Also unique to the design of the World Trade Center towers, was its elevator system. The engineers feared that the intense air pressure caused by the buildings' high speed elevators would buckle any conventional shaft. To solve this problem, the team came up with a drywall system that fixed to the reinforced steel core. Then, Otis Elevators developed an express and local system, where passengers would change elevators at “sky lobbies” on the 44th floor and 78th floor, which dramatically reduced the number of shafts required.
The result of all of this designing brilliance and hard work was two towers, both of which were 110 stories tall. Tower One stood 1,368 feet tall, while Tower Two was just a little shorter at 1,362 feet tall. At the time, they were the two tallest buildings in the world. Tower One, or One World Trade Center, featured Windows on the World. This was an elegant restaurant with a magnificent view of New York City. Tower Two, or Two World Trade Center featured two observation decks, both of which were more than 1,300 feet above the ground. From these decks it was possible to see 45 miles in any direction.
The World Trade Center was famous for its Twin Towers. Unfortunately, that also made it an easy target for terrorism. The 1993 World Trade Center bombing on February 26 left six people dead and 1,000 injured. It also created a 22-foot wide, five-story deep crater. The towers were re-opened in less than a month. Then, on September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center's Twin Towers met their match. Terrorists flew two hijacked commercial airliners into the towers. Although the towers were designed to withstand being struck by an airplane, the resulting fires weakened the infrastructure of the buildings, causing both to collapse. The World Trade Center attack was the deadliest terrorist attack ever in the United States.
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