Bringing out the base

摘要

The design of the new 7 World Trade Center presented many challenges. Not only did the architects, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), have to design the first new building since September 11,2001 at the highly emotional and symbolic World Trade Center site. They also had to do so quickly, before a master plan for the rest of the site was selected. The reason for this accelerated schedule was simple: the original 7 WTC contained electrical transformer vaults that supplied power to much of Lower Manhattan. These transformer vaults consume the first 80 ft of the 52-story building, so the design of the building podium was a major challenge, demanding a special solution.