One WTC, a skyscraper that symbolizes the resilience of New Yorkers

photo: James Ewing

New York – The so-called twins, which collapsed in clouds of smoke, have been replaced on the New York skyline by the One World Trade Center (One WTC) skyscraper. It was officially opened in 2014 and, at 541 meters, became the tallest building in the USA, a symbol of the American economic metropolis and resilience after the horrors brought by the September 11, 2001 attacks, wrote AFP.

The skyscraper, nicknamed Freedom Tower, was intended from the first plans to be a manifestation of New York's resilience, as it looks toward the future despite the catastrophe, said Kenneth Lewis, one of the project architects from the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), which builds skyscrapers around the world.

Although images of the twin towers in flames were harrowing, no one questioned the idea of building another skyscraper in their place from the start. For architects, it was an opportunity to realize concepts they had been contemplating for years. "It was the beginning of the millennium; a new generation of buildings needed to be realized, both from the perspective of safety and environmental impact,” said architect Lewis.

Among the most horrifying images from September 11 are those of people jumping from the windows of the towers into certain death to escape the flames. After the attacks, architects came up with new ideas for how people could evacuate other than via the staircase. One idea was a giant slide, while another involved stretching a steel wire to which people could attach themselves before jumping from the building, Lewis recalls.

The second proposed solution was even tested by professional parachutists. Ken Lewis now smiles when discussing such ideas. "There was really fear about it. It was unimaginable that someone with a bit of extra weight, or someone anxious, would jump out the window,” he noted.

The only viable solution, therefore, was to fortify the building's core with reinforced concrete, making it large enough for people to quickly exit the building in case of an emergency.

The new One WTC building introduced modified safety standards, which subsequently became the benchmark for other similar buildings. These include expanded staircases that allow faster evacuation of the 104-story building. Lighting signals are installed in the floor of the corridors, similar to those in airplanes. Cameras and other communication tools have also been implemented on every floor, which are fire-resistant and allow rescuers to monitor the situation at all times. Firefighters have their own special staircase and fire- and water-resistant lift in the building, ensuring access throughout the building in emergencies. All measures are designed so that the entire building can be evacuated in less than an hour.

Planning meetings regarding the new standards also included firefighters themselves. "They went through such trauma, so they had to be part of the solution,” said architect Lewis. Requirements for a backup system, which could supply electricity to the building in case of failure of the emergency generators, which occurred in the original towers after the attacks 20 years ago, came from them.

However, architects also had other threats in mind besides fire. In the fall of 2001, several anonymous letters containing anthrax were sent to some media and Congress, causing the deaths of five people. "We began to think about a filtration system and air quality, not just for fire emergencies, but also in the case of chemical attacks. It was necessary to identify all the threats that such a building might face,” Lewis said. Nevertheless, architects did not want the structure to feel like "a fortress where no one would want to work anymore."

Almost 20 years after the attacks came the pandemic. Due to the massive rise in remote work, One WTC and several other prestigious New York office buildings are now largely empty. "We initially thought people would return to the offices much faster,” said Lewis. "We immediately began to consider what air filters were installed in the buildings, and most recently constructed high-rise buildings have very effective particle filters that can deal with viruses,” he added.

Although high-rise office buildings are still not occupied as they were before the pandemic, the dominance of skyscrapers in the New York skyline does not seem to wane anytime soon. In Brooklyn, a building with about 600 apartments is under construction, which will become New York's first "super-skyscraper" outside Manhattan upon its planned opening in 2022. About twenty more towers are being developed across the city.

Nevertheless, One WTC has become a permanent part of iconic images of New York. While the September 11 memorial symbolizes "the void" that the attacks created at the site, the new skyscraper represents "the positive, the place of innovation, new thinking, and modern concepts of protection and safety,” said architect Lewis to AFP.