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Rarely have so many had so much invested in the shape and outcome of an architectural project. What's next for the World Trade Center site?
IN A PACKED MIDTOWN-MANHATTAN HALL ONE EVENING last week, 400 architects and design buffs got together to talk about the future of the New York City skyline. Since September 11 dozens of similar forums and meetings have taken place all over the city convocations of people swapping ideas about the reconstruction of the 16 acres where the World Trade Center used to be. They toss around notions for new buildings, memorials, parks. At last week's confab, which included architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien and historian Mike Wallace, some speakers argued that a skyscraper should be built on the site again. Others expounded on the need to make the downtown streetscape friendlier. Therewere few specific proposals-and surprisingly, even fewer arguments. "It was amazing how much consensus there was," said one observer. Usually architects are tryingto one-up each other. But since the attacks there's been an unprecedented outpouring of desire from designers to be part of civic life and influence what gets built on the site. "Why can't we have a great public space?" asked architect Hugh Hardy. "It's a fantastic opportunity."Williams quoted the Mexican architect Luis Barragan: "The certainty ofdeath is the spring of action"
Yet there's no certainty that these voices and hundreds of others from the design community will even be a factor in deciding what's eventually built. Late last week New York Gov. George Pataki and the outgoing mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, announced a new state-city corporation to oversee the redevelopment of all of lower Manhattan, ineluding transportation and infrastructure as well as reconstruction of the WTC site. The corporation, whose board members and chairman are yet to be named, will channel federal funds to those projects, starting with a $2.8 billion allocation. With businesses fleeing and the economy teetering, trying to restore confidence is higher on the political agenda than Medici-like notions of fostering great architecture and public...