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Synopsis: What's to be done with the site on which the World Trade
Center once stood? New York city planners, architects and community
leaders struggled - with tact and appropriate delicacy - to devise a
structure that paid homage to the thousands of lives lost and a land-use
solution that satisfied all interests.
Now, with the recent announcement that Studio Daniel Libeskind has
won the worldwide architectural design competition, work can begin in
earnest to rebuild the World Trade Center - as well as a wide swath
of downtown Manhattan. Supplanting the 1,300-foot WTC towers - built
in the early 1970s - with a suitable, modern structure is a project
as daunting as the original towers themselves. However, engineers see
the project as a golden opportunity to improve on the towers' design.
Using the very latest materials and energy sources - as well as taking
into account the structural and technical problems exposed by the disaster
- architects plan one of the most progressive, gutsy buildings ever
conceived.
Follow the story of a new approach to public architecture - the incorporation
of new technologies, a new appreciation for the human scale of massive
construction projects, and a new emphasis on becoming a more organic
part of the surrounding neighborhood. Join a host of the world's best
building minds as they struggle to engineer the future - while honoring
the past.
Airdates:
It premiered on the Discovery Channel on Sunday, September 7th, 2003
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