The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, created after Sept. 11, 2001 to oversee rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and surrounding areas, today selected Berlin-based architect Daniel Libeskind's multi-structure design over a rival design that mimicked the twin towers that once loomed over the financial district.
Andrea Bernstein reports that the chosen plan envisions sloping angular towers and a jutting spire taller than the old World Trade Center towers, offices rising 70 stories and "Gardens of the World" high above office level.
However, the building project still faces significant hurdles -- the families of the victims who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks have become increasingly vocal about an appropriate memorial to the dead, the Port Authority owns the site, and developer Larry Silverstein, who owns the lease to the property, indicated before the selection that he's not happy with either design proposal.
NPR's Melissa Block talks with Robert Ivy, editor-in-chief of the magazine Architectural Record, about Libeskind's winning design -- which preserves the footprint of the original building complex, and incorporates glass towers that swirl upward to a 1,776-foot spire.
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