LMDC Launches New Outreach Campaign, “Plans In Progress” to Solicit Public Comment, Starting with Exhibit at Winter Garden on December 20

Plans made available on RenewNYC.com and LowerManhattan.info

The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation today released nine new innovative designs for the World Trade Center site created by seven teams of some the world’s most renowned firms, architects and artists. The new plans reflect the public’s call for such elements as a respectful memorial setting, a bold new skyline and an inspiring vision for the 16-acre site. With the release of the plans, LMDC is simultaneously launching “Plans in Progress”, a comprehensive public outreach campaign that will use multiple avenues to engage the public in a discussion about the future of Lower Manhattan.

The outreach campaign will include a three-hour televised presentation of the plans today; an exhibit at the World Financial Center Winter Garden adjacent to the World Trade Center site; a video presentation featuring interviews with the designers; public meetings, including a large-scale public meeting at Pace University in Lower Manhattan and a public meeting in New Jersey; and the presentation of the plans online, where comments can also be submitted.

Governor George Pataki said, ” The plans are a bold declaration of New York’s confidence and of Lower Manhattan’s ability to emerge from the tragedy even stronger and better than it was before. On behalf of all New Yorkers, I want to thank the seven teams for offering their talents and imagination to the planning process for Lower Manhattan.”

Mayor Bloomberg said, “"The plans presented today are imaginative, innovative and go far beyond anything we have seen to date with regard to the sixteen acres of the World Trade Center site. In addition, they possess a visionary quality that complements the City's presentation that I shared
last week. Together, we will develop a comprehensive plan that meets the needs of the entire region, and will restore Lower Manhattan to its rightful place as a center of innovation and make it a 'Downtown for the 21st Century. I commend the LMDC for their work overseeing this important process."

LMDC Chairman John C. Whitehead said, “We are grateful to the talented teams from around the world for producing the innovative concepts they are presenting today. As you view their plans, remember that these are designs not only for our time, but for all time. The reborn World Trade Center must transcend the present to speak to our children and our children’s children about our society and its spirit. It must be our immortal message to future generations about who we are and what we stand for."

LMDC President Lou Tomson said, “From LMDC’s inception, the public has been involved in every step of the planning process and has already helped shape the outcome. In many respects, the new plans reflect the hopes and aspirations of the public that were expressed during many public meetings and thousands of heartfelt emails. The concept of a powerful skyline in Lower Manhattan and preserving the footprints for memorial space are two examples that originated with public comment, but there are many more. Once again, the LMDC will engage the public as we enter this next, important phase in the planning process.”

Charles A. Gargano, Chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Port Authority,”The plans unveiled today provide New Yorkers with an array of exciting options to redevelop the area where the World Trade Center once stood. These plans demonstrate just how New Yorkers can and will meet the challenge to redevelop the 16-acre site in a way that will memorialize those who were lost while also allowing New York to retain its place as the world's business and financial center."

Port Authority Executive Director Joseph J. Seymour, "Today, we preview the future. Today, we see what tomorrow might bring. Today, we bring into focus the future of the World Trade Center and surrounding areas. In the coming weeks, the Port Authority looks forward to hearing what the people who live and work in this city and across this region have to say about these ideas."

Roland Betts, LMDC Board Member and Chair of the Site Planning Working Group said, “When we put out the call to designers across the world to contribute to our process, the response was overwhelming. The seven teams who were selected to participate have produced -- and we are grateful. Our next challenge is to move forward, informed by public comment, so that we can arrive at a single plan for the site. We invite all citizens to participate in reviewing the plans that are now on display and to join us in taking this next critical step.

Rick Bell of the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter said, “The nine plans announced today for the World Trace Center site represent strikingly different ideas and approaches to the site and the program delineated by the LMDC and the Port Authority. The seven teams should be commended for the remarkable, sustainable and inspirational future addressed in each plan.”

LMDC’s public outreach campaign was launched in July 2002 with the release of six initial concept plans and an exhibit at Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan. Public response to the initial plans prompted LMDC to issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for architects from around the world to participate in a World Trade Center design study. A new program of requirements for the site was also developed based on the public dialogue, including elements such as restoring the skyline and creating more public spaces.

New York New Visions, a coalition of 21 architects, engineering, planning, landscape architecture and design organizations, recommended a distinguished group of six panelists to winnow down the over 406 responses to the RFQ. Seven teams of architects were selected to participate in the study including 27 different firms, individual architects and artists.

The teams were given the new program requirements on October 11, 2002 and during the following eight weeks were asked to create innovative visions for the future of the World Trade Center site. Each team offers a range of previous work experience and accomplishments. The following is a list of each team, previous work, and a short explanation of their World Trade Center design proposal:

· Peterson/Littenberg Architecture and Urban Design
Previous Work:
Initial urban design plan for Lower Manhattan.

“Circling out from the garden and amphitheater are the other layers of this new city district, a rich and permanent pattern of streets, boulevards, squares, towers, parks, and gardens that together form a new urbane public realm, one that can heal the city and reach out to enhance the broader civic structure if all of Lower Manhattan.”

· Studio Daniel Libeskind, Berlin, Germany
Previous Work:
- Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany
- Imperial War Museum, Manchester, England
- Extension to the Denver Art Museum and Co-Development, Denver, Colorado

“The sky will be home again to a towering spire of 1776 feet high, the Gardens of the World”. Why gardens? Because gardens are a constant affirmation of life. A skyscraper rises above its predecessors, reasserting the pre-eminence of freedom and beauty, restoring the spiritual peak of the city, creating an icon that speaks of our vitality in the face if danger and our optimism in the aftermath of tragedy.”

· Foster and Partners, London, England
Previous Work:
- New German Parliament, Reichstag, Berlin, Germany
- Commerzbank Headquarters, Frankfurt, Germany
- Swiss Re Headquarters, London, England
- Metro System, Bilbao, Spain

“The Rebuilding of the World Trade Center site is the most important urban planning and architectural challenge of our time. It is about healing, repair and rebirth. We have a duty to commemorate the dead in the form of a solemn and respectful memorial. We have a duty to repair and regenerate the city fabric. Above all, we have a duty to symbolize the rebirth of New York on the skyline, to demonstrate to the world the resilience, the resolve, the strength and faith in the future of all those who are dedicated to liberty and freedom.”

· Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey, and Steven Holl
Previous Work:
Richard Meier
· The Getty Center, Los Angeles, California
· Federal Building and United State Courthouse, Islip, New York
Peter Eisenman
· Greater Columbus Convention Center, Columbus, Ohio
· Paramatta Rail Link, Sydney, Australia
Charles Gwathmey
· Morgan Stanley and Co., World Headquarters, New York, New York
· Guggenheim Museum, Renovation and Addition, New York, New York
Steven Holl
· Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
· New Residential Community, Schipol, The Netherlands

“An architecture of dignity is not only possible here, it is absolutely necessary. In the belief that from a monumentally tragic occurrence can come a life affirming opportunity, Memorial Square is a place of living memory, a sacred precinct where loss is remembered and renewal is celebrated.”

· UNITED ARCHITECTS
Reiser Umemoto (New York, NY); Foreign Office Architects (London, England); Greg Lynn FORM (Los Angeles, CA); Imaginary Forces (New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA); Kevin Kennon Architect (New York, NY); UN Studio (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Previous Projects:
· 745 Seventh Avenue, New York, New York (Kevin Kennon Architect as KPF Design Partner; Imaginary Forces for Exterior LED Signage)
· Yokohama International Port Terminal, Yokohama, Japan (Foreign Office Architects)
· Transformation of Kleiburg Housing, Biklmermeet, The Netherlands (Greg Lynn FORM)

“From the earth to the sky, the entire World Trade Center site will be both a monument to the past and a vision of the future. The memorial experience begins with a descent below the ground into the sacrosanct area around the vast WTC footprints At this great depth, visitors will look up, up through the footprints of the towers, up to the sky and the majestic new towers- just as we once looked up in awe at the Twin Towers.”

· Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) (New York, NY) with Field Operations (Philadelphia, PA
and New York, NY), Tom Leader (Berkeley, CA), Michael Maltzan (Los Angeles, CA), Neutelings Riedijk (Rotterdam, Netherlands), and SANAA (Tokyo, Japan) together with artists Inigo Manglano-Ovalle, Rita McBride, Jessica Stockholder and Elyn Zimmerman.
Previous Work:
· New Pennsylvania Station, New York, New York (1998-2005, unbuilt) (SOM)
· MoMA QNS, Long Island City, New York ((Michael Maltzan)
· Gifu Kitakata Housing Stage 1, Stage 2, Motosu, Japan (Sanaa)

“Our vision is one that moves beyond the histroical drive to build high only in order to maximize the limited resource of land, it is one that builds to multiply that very resource for the greater public. Our proposal covers 16 acres, and in turn, returns those 16 acres twice, by providing within its horizontal strata, 16 acres of sky gardens and an additional 16 acres of cultural space.”

· THINK
Shigeru Ban (Tokyo, Japan), Frederic Schwartz (New York, NY), Ken Smith (New York, NY), Rafael Vinoly (New York, NY) with ARUP (New York, NY), Buro Happold Engineers (Bath, England), Jorg Schlaich (Stuttgart, Germany), William Moorish (Charlottesville, VA), David Rockwell (New York, NY), Janet Marie Smith (Baltimore, MD)
Previous Work:
- Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan (Rafael Vinoly)
- Curtain Wall House, Itabashi-Ku, Tokyo, Japan (Shigeru Ban)
- Whitehall Ferry Terminal and Peter Minuit Plaza, New York, New York (Frederic Schwartz)

“ An inspired plan will rededicate our City to the ideals of diversity, democracy, and optimism that have made New York the World’s center for the exchange not only of goods and services, but also of creativity and culture.”

Over the next several weeks, LMDC and the Port Authority will evaluate each of the nine designs based on quantitative factors such as cost, technical feasibility and staging as well as on qualitative factors such as setting for the memorial and open spaces. The goal is to have a final land use plan in place by February and then launch an international design competition for the memorial by Spring. The plan will determine the configuration of the streets and public spaces on the site, the various uses on the site, such as the memorial space and how they would relate to each other.

Meanwhile, the “Plans in Progress” outreach campaign will offer members of the public several opportunities to view and comment on the new plans. The designs will be on display in an exhibit hosted by the World Financial Center Arts and Events Program at the Winter Garden, adjacent to the World Trade Center site from December 20 through February 2, 2003. The exhibit will be open to the public daily, including holidays, from 7 am to 11pm. Visitors will be able to explore the plans and view models, watch a video presentation of the teams describing their plans in their own words, and submit comments on the plans. LMDC is also producing a video that will provide a succinct interpretation of the plans for a general audience. The video will feature each team speaking in their own voice, describing their concepts and the challenges involved in planning. The video will make it possible for an even greater number of people to view and comment on the plans and will be distributed to libraries around the City and other interested organizations.

LMDC will also hold public meetings regarding the plans, including a large-scale public forum at Pace University on January 13 and a second meeting at Pace University the following day, January 14, to solicit comments on the draft memorial mission statement and program. LMDC is exploring additional ways to solicit comments from residents of the five boroughs and New Jersey. The plans will be accessible through www.LowerManhattan.info and through LMDC’s website, www.renewnyc.org. Visitors will be able to learn about the planning process, view a slide presentation of the plans read about the teams and submit comments directly to the LMDC from anywhere in the world. LMDC’s activities are funded through the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Community Development Block Grant Program.