Date: Fri, 2 May 2003 19:35:43 -0400 (EDT) From: Louis Epstein Subject: WTC Rebuilding #207:Libeskind Embarrassed,Keep it Up! Jonathan Hakala sent me the below NY Times article, after which I cover more news coverage of the same issue... ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 1 May 2003 00:51:19 -0400 (EDT) Subject: NYTimes.com Article: Shadows to Fall, Literally, Over 9/11 'Wedge of Light' \----------------------------------------------------------/ Shadows to Fall, Literally, Over 9/11 'Wedge of Light' May 1, 2003 By EDWARD WYATT When the architect Daniel Libeskind described his design for ground zero to New Yorkers late last year, he said one prominent feature would be an open plaza upon which "the sun will shine without shadow" each year on the morning of Sept. 11. But yesterday, under fire from a critic, Mr. Libeskind said that shadows would extend across the plaza - which he had called the Wedge of Light - for much of the time that he had said it would be illuminated as a tribute to the victims of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. His comments came after Eli Attia, an architect who has been a frequent critic of the rebuilding process, published a study showing that 40 percent to 99 percent of the Wedge of Light would be in shadow cast by the Millenium Hilton Hotel during the times when Mr. Libeskind had said it would be free of shadows. Mr. Libeskind said he had never intended to convey anything different. Rather, he said, the Wedge of Light is created by "the effect of the facades of the building reflecting the light back into the plaza." The effect is not linear, he said, but "a three-dimensional phenomenon" that is "about the ambience of light and the reflections of light between the buildings." The revelation by Mr. Libeskind raises a multitude of questions about his design, which has attracted criticism from the beginning. In recent weeks, alterations to the plan have made clear that it is not likely to emerge as many people have envisioned. For example, rebuilding officials released plans this week showing that the foundation walls, whose exposure was at the center of Mr. Libeskind's plan for the memorial site, would be encased in a "glazed screen" to protect them from the elements. The disclosure about the Wedge of Light could also raise questions about Mr. Libeskind's further role. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation are negotiating contracts with Mr. Libeskind for additional work on the site, including detailed drawings of the train station, the cultural buildings and the 1,776-foot tower that are planned. Mr. Libeskind won the enthusiastic support of both Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg with his design, and Mr. Pataki ensured Mr. Libeskind's selection for the ground zero commission when he overruled a committee of directors of the development corporation, which had recommended the selection of the other finalist, a group of architects known as Think. Last week, in a major address about the development of the site, Mr. Pataki again hailed Mr. Libeskind's design and specifically cited the "spectacular entranceway to the site, the Wedge of Light - where the sun will shine without shadow the morning of every Sept. 11." Mr. Attia, who has designed several office buildings, including, coincidentally, the Millenium Hilton, said yesterday that the claim is "a lie." His analysis, through a common architectural tool known as a "shadow study," found that the wedge would largely be covered in shadow each Sept. 11 between 8:46 a.m. and 10:28 a.m., the period that Mr. Libeskind had said would be without shadow. The first time specified is when the first plane hit the north tower of the trade center; the second is when the north tower, the second of the towers to fall, collapsed. In a statement published on the Internet site www.phoenixproject.info/design/ with his study, Mr. Attia said: "Whether by ignorance, neglect or deceit, Daniel Libeskind and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation have thus sought to sell the citizens of New York, America and the world - including the families who have trusted Libeskind for inspiration - a figment and a sham memorial in which the defining image and metaphor is shadows conquering the light." As early as November 2001, Mr. Attia publicly called for an international design competition to decide the future of the trade center site. In July, he set up the Internet site, which refers to The Phoenix Project as "a grass-roots organization" headed by himself; his wife, Noa; and two other individuals who have participated in a variety of public rebuilding forums, Jonathan Hakala and John Lumea. In an interview yesterday, Mr. Attia said he has continued his crusade even after Mr. Libeskind's selection because he believes the plan is "a national embarrassment." Mr. Libeskind said that he does not understand the fuss, and he added that he stuck by his characterization of the "sun shining without shadow" on the Wedge of Light. "I'm a little perplexed by the simple-mindedness" of Mr. Attia's study, he said. "If you think of the sun being a ball of fire, only at Stonehenge could you get the straight lines of light" that the study assumes. "But this is about radiating light, reflecting light, the atmosphere of light," he said. "It's not about tricks of light but about how light behaves when you look at the sun in three-dimensional form." http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/01/nyregion/01REBU.html?ex=1052764679&ei=1&en=09b1ab04cd881535 Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company ---------- End forwarded message ---------- This does NOT seem to have been picked up by the NY Post, I am not sure why. Newsday ran a story,it made the AP regional wires yesterday and the national wires (by regular WTC-related reporter Karen Matthews) overnight. The usual suspects (Whitehead PR chief Matt Higgins, Libeskind fan (and battered Hakala debate opponent) Beverly Willis,and others) have lined up behind Libeskind. A subsequent Newsday article was sent to me by Save The WTC: ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Article- http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/manhattan/nyc-lite0502,0,4516336.story?coll=nyc-topheadlines-left Facing charges that his "Wedge of Light" plaza will be cast in shadows, World Trade Center architect Daniel Libeskind defended the feasability of his proposal as workable, calling his latest critic "one of the sore losers." The Wedge of Light would create an open plaza, where sunlight would shine "without shadow" each Sept. 11, between 8:46 a.m.,when the first plane struck, and 10:28 a.m., when the second building collapsed, Libeskind said. Brooklyn architect Eli Attia, a constant critic of the design process, said his study showed that shadows could be cast over the Wedge of Light plaza by the Millennium Hilton Hotel and other buildings beyond the 16-acre site. "This is only a small part of the deficiencies that are going on," said Attia, who has his own design for the trade center site. He has called for an open design competition since November 2001. "The entire process has to be scrapped and start a new one, guaranteeing that the best that America has to offer would be built," he said. "What I proposed is true and stays exactly as it is," said Libeskind, who won the trade center design competition in February. "We're working to make it very precise. The Wedge of Light is determined by two angles, the angle when first plane stuck at 8:46 a.m., when the second building fell at 10:28 a.m." The proposal of a sunlit plaza captured the imagination of many, making its way into Gov. George Pataki's April 24 speech on his priorities for Lower Manhattan. Several of Libeskind's supporters defended the design yesterday after the New York Time's story of Attia's charges. "I don't know that the wedge of light was necessarily the be-all and end-all," Bloomberg said yesterday. "The governor and I thought this was the right plan. These plans have to evolve as they work on them." The Wedge of Light defines the space "in a way that is so elegant and simple, saying something happened here, at a particular time and history, like a Mayan ruin or Aztec pyramid," said Ric Bell, executive director of the American Institute of Architects New York chapter. Nikki Stern, a family member who lost her husband, Jim Potorti, on Sept. 11, said she saw no purpose in "carping over specific details of a plan that is meant to be interpretive." Libeskind is producing an animation to more clearly demonstrate how the Wedge of Light works, said Matt Higgins, a spokesman for the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which oversaw the design competition. "It's inevitable that more explanation will be necessary to show how certain elements of the plan are realized and Daniel will elaborate as we move forward," Higgins said. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also issued a statement supportive of Libeskind's plans and the need to work together to build it. Other sources familiar with Libeskind's plan say the light created by the placement of buildings at Ground Zero will overpower any shadows from the Millennium Hilton Hotel and other nearby buildings. Former LMDC lead architect Alexander Garvin, who oversaw the design competition and asked Libeskind to enter it, dismissed Attia's criticism, claiming that the sunlight effect on Sept. 11 is not its most important contribution to the site. "The Wedge of Light, in my judgment, is completely brilliant, not because of the presence or absence of shadows, but because it gives Lower Manhattan a new main square with a transit station," said Garvin, who said he did not conduct a shadow study of the site. Attia's criticisms sound like "sour grapes," said another critic, who didn't want to be identified. Attia responded "That's absolute nonsense. I was asked to participate (in the LMDC design study) and I refused. I'll be happy to participate in an open competition, and I hope I will win, but only through a competition." ---------- End forwarded message ---------- THE WTCRM architectural competition finally has three willing judges, though nmore would be welcome if they can be quickly found.We plan to move forward publicly very soon. This is NOT the totally open competition advocated by Attia...the minimum height requirements for the tallest buildings on the site can not be compromised for ANY reason,political,economic,or aesthetic. But it represents a reasonable compromise between Attia's way of doing things and Garvin's way of botching them. Differences or not,Attia has done something very good by igniting these flames under Libeskind's papier-mache pretenses...and WE NEED TO FAN THOSE FLAMES. Write to the Times(letters@nytimes.com),the Post(letters@nypost.com) and others...highlight concerns with the Libeskind's design and call for something more evocative of what was taken from us. Write to politicians. Write to Bank of America (my letter is sent) and other potential tenants. Don't let them think we're rolling over and accepting bad decisions. Don't buy the official line that the competition so far has been run reasonably or produced an acceptable result. And let's plan for a spring rally much larger than those we held in the bad-weather months! THe May 5th Skyscraper Museum event is nearly upon us... see if admin2@skyscraper.org will still let you reserve a $10 ticket ($5 for students) if you can make it Monday. The official memorial competition is underway (they set up www.wtcsitememorial.org but it's still the "Leave Manhattan Destroyed Committee" running things) and according to http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/74561.htm they are willing to take really good plans that break their rules...some pro-rebuilders have proposed entering as a result,and putting in tall towers as the centerpiece they should be. I'd need an artist to illustrate my notional plans... and am a bit uneasy about contributing to the creation of a memorial that follows Libeskind's Osama-inspired plans.But I welcome input on this. Note that this competition is,for the memorial only, just about as open-to-everything as Attia wants a whole-site competition to be.Once more,I think the WTCRM competition is the best way to do it. See you on the 111th floor on 9-11-11! -=-=- The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again, at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.