August 1, 2003

Santiago Calatrava has been selected by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to be part of a team to design the new transit hub at the World Trade Center site. According to the Port Authority, the agency’s board voted on Thursday to begin negotiations with Calatrava and the engineering firms DMJM+ Harris and STV in joint venture. The teams will collaborate on the project with Daniel Libeskind, the site’s conceptual leader. Calatrava is well known for designing soaring, sculptural transportation architecture, including the Oriente railway station in Lisbon, Portugal and the Stadelhofen Railway Station in Zurich, Switzerland. His most recent project in the United States was a much-heralded addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum, completed in 2001.

Other firms in the running for the project included a team made up of HOK and Vinoly Architects, URS Corporation, and Parsons Brinckerhoff. "All the teams were judged to be outstanding. In the end the determination was that this team was the most impressive," said Port Authority Spokesperson Greg Trevor.

The new transit station, located along the east slurry wall of the World Trade Center site, will include PATH service for over 67,000 people daily, as well as 14 New York City subway lines: the 1,9,2,3,4,5,N,R,J,M,Z,A,C,E.

Sam Lubell