2 World Trade Center | Foster + Partners
New York / United States / 2015
A key component in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, this seventy-nine-storey building at 200 Greenwich Street continues the practice’s investigations into the nature of the office tower. One of the most important urban planning and architectural challenges of recent times, the concept is driven by memory; but equally it is motivated by a sense of rebirth, its sparkling glazed crystalline form and diamond-shaped summit forming a bold new addition to the New York skyline. The building occupies a pivotal position at north-east corner of Memorial Park, and its profile reflects this role as a symbolic marker. Arranged around a central cruciform core, the shaft is articulated as four interconnected blocks with flexible, column-free office floors that rise to level sixty-four, whereupon the building is cut at angle to address the Memorial below. Function rooms within the summit have spectacular views of the river, the park and the city. The core arrangement on the office floors allows for cross-corridor circulation, providing orientation and opening up views. The core culminates in flexible zones – places to locate staircases between floors or create double-height atria – which allows tenants to adapt the floors to suit their specific needs. Designed to meet the highest energy ratings, the project takes forward many of the ideas explored in the Hearst Tower and similarly aims to achieve the gold standard under the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design programme (LEED). Connections with the city at ground level are reinforced by glass walls, which create a visual relationship with the surrounding streets. The triple-height lobby is connected at the Greenwich Street entrance to the MTA providing direct access to the underground system. The lobby rises in level along Vesey Street and includes a further connection with the transport system via escalators and a four-storey shopping area connecting with Fulton Street and spilling out on to the Wedge of Light plaza.
[IT]
Il grattacielo disegnato da Norman Foster, si svilupperà su 78 piani per una altezza complessiva pari a 382 metri. Sistemata attorno ad un nucleo centrale cruciforme, la torre include quattro blocchi che proseguono in maniera regolare il loro percorso verso lo skyline sino al 59° piano, dove un taglio sulle facciate in vetro intende invitare lo sguardo verso il Memoriale. Una serie di intagli effettuati sui quattro lati della struttura modifica infatti il volume della torre trasformandolo in quattro blocchi interconnessi, che proietteranno la luce del sole in basso verso il memoriale e rifletteranno come quattro diamanti. “La punta cristallina della torre – spiega Foster - rispetta il masterplan ed invita ad inclinare lo sguardo verso il memoriale che ricorda il tragico evento. Ma è anche simbolo di speranza per il futuro. La notevole altezza della torre celebra lo spirito che ha storicamente guidato Manhattan a costruire edifici di una certa altezza, ed il tetto a forma di diamante sarà la nuova pietra miliare che incoronerà lo skyline della città”.
A key component in the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site, this seventy-nine-storey building at 200 Greenwich Street continues the practice’s investigations into the nature of the office tower. One of the most important urban planning and architectural challenges of recent times, the concept is driven by memory; but equally it is motivated by a sense of rebirth, its sparkling glazed crystalline form and diamond-shaped summit forming a bold new addition to the New York skyline....
- Year 2015
- Work started in 2009
- Work finished in 2015
- Client Silverstein Properties
- Status Current works
- Type Office Buildings / Tower blocks/Skyscrapers
- Websitehttp://www.fosterandpartners.com
- Websitehttp://www.wtc.com
comment