Think Different. Please.

In the little time I was not sick in bed with the flu this weekend, I focused on the final proposed designs for the New York City World Trade Center. It would be an understatement to say that I was disappointed by what I saw. Yes, some of the designs are pretty amazing pieces of architecture. But if you step back for a moment, you might agree with me that the designs are all about business as usual, an in many cases, present but a token patronization of the tragic events of September 11.

Yes, I understand that there is a need to revitalize lower Manhattan. And yes, I understand the need for office space there, and the financial pressure that Larry Silverstein, who has the lease on the land that is WTC must be feeling. But all I could see was that the egos of major architects and the financial pressures coming first and foremost over any serious attempt to remember the loss of lives. Am I the only person who believes that this is sacred ground?

If you look at the plans presented, what I see is a bald attempt to build to the sky. In some ways, I think some of the proposals were setting the stage for how high all buildings should be in Manhattan. If so, I really wonder what we learned from the attacks of September 11. In fact, there were two attacks on the WTC, when you include the basement truck bombing of the early 1990s. If we build an even taller set of towers, as most of the designs propose, we may only be inviting the same disaster to happen again. After all, in the sick, twisted mind of Osama bin Laden and his demented followers, they mean to strike at the symbols of capitalism and commerce. Building to the sky would tempt them to repeat the despicable behavior. For that matter, if there was a fire on the upper floors of a 100 story +_tall tower, how could we possibly stop it? I don't think we have come up with an acceptable solution, and yet, we are proposing even taller towers.

Instead of building to the sky, why not think different? Build low. Build not a middle finger pointed to the Middle East, but instead a circular building surrounding Ground Zero, and provide this land with the dignity it deserves. Given all the entries in this competition, I am appalled at how many proposals were essentially the same idea. I hope that this collective lack of creativity will be noticed by the public and that pressure will be brought to bear on the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. America, the world, and the families of the victims of September 11 deserve no less.