Plans for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site are taking off -- mostly thanks to Penn professor Gary Hack.
Monday afternoon, the Fox Leadership Program invited Hack -- the dean for the Graduate School of Fine Arts -- to speak about his contributions to the design of the new complex, which will stand in Lower Manhattan.
In his presentation, entitled "World Trade Center -- Rebuilding Ground Zero, " Hack covered the stages of the design, a collaboration with Daniel Libeskind, the principal architect of Studio Daniel Libeskind and Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture at Penn.
Hack emphasized the civic and social role that architecture holds today when building a city.
In the case of the World Trade Center, Hack said that both the mayor and the governor of New York chose the winning design "based on their readings of the cultural implications" that such a choice would entail. In fact, while not greatly loved, the original World Trade Center was a powerful symbol of the city's role in the world commerce.
According to Hack, these considerations made the design of a building complex in New York challenging because the city is "incredibly fractious." However, the environment can also be "incredibly inclusive," allowing for a variety of possible plans.
After showing images of the Sept. 11 attacks, Hack illustrated the various plans the different architects considered, all while keeping in mind the demands of corporations and private citizens -- primarily, a memorial site, the preservation of the towers' footprints and millions of square feet for office space.
When the design competition was launched, more than 400 studios took the challenge. Out of all the plans submitted, seven designs were chosen, including Libeskind's project.
Libeskind then contacted Hack, who immediately picked up the offer. "You don't say no to the opportunity to rebuild something like this," Hack said.
After outlining each of the competing projects, Hack highlighted what he said were the elements that enabled his team to win -- ready space for a memorial site, recognition of all who helped the rescue operations and skyline restoration.
The tallest building will be 70 stories high with a communication tower at its top.
"There will be a very interesting dialogue between this place and the Statue of Liberty," Hack said.
After the lecture, Hack entertained questions from the audience -- a crowd of more than 100 people.
"It's a dialogue, it's a social art to design things like this... and theories come over time," Hack said.
Organizers were satisfied with audience response. "There are a lot of people connected to New York on campus," Student Director of the Fox Leadership Program and College senior Douglas Gilman said.
Audience members echoed this sentiment. "We read about all these plans in the paper," College sophomore Lindsay Krauss said. "It was cool to see the thought process behind the evolution of this plan."
