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March 10, 2004
A team of activists and designers
called Team Twin Towers recently unveiled a design
for the World Trade Center that is an almost exact replica
of the original Twin Towers.
The team, led by tv/film producer
Randy Warner, with a design by engineer Ken Gardner and architect
Herbert Belton, is lobbying aggressively for its design, called
the Plan of the People. The idea consists of two
towers whose sleek, rectangular designs are purposeful reminders
of the originals. In fact one of the designers, Belton, worked
on the Twin Towers' original construction drawings for New
York firm Emory Roth and Sons. The towers will be two stories
taller than the Twin Towers, and the north tower is designed
with a 500-foot-high mast to make it the tallest building
in the world.
While similar in form to the Twin
Towers, the new design, the team says, is built to be much
safer. It has a steel skin built in two layers a tube
within a tube- that has much heavier columns and much greater,
and redundant, structural support. The design also calls for
larger windows for comfort and much improved fireproofing
over the original. Other elements include two five-story memorials
made of the original steel skin (with replicated steel), access
to bedrock, and a list of victims names etched in granite.
The tower design, the team says,
is a much more effective symbol of fortitude and hope than
anything in the works right now.
It stands for resolve, it stands
for strength, it stands for renewal, says Gardner. To
see the towers return would have an inspirational impact on
the population. It's a living memorial, and I think it's more
powerful than pretending 9/11 never happened.
Does the team think their plan will
actually take shape? I think its pretty good chance.
We know that in all polls the majority of people favor this,
says Gardner, who points to teams of people working on financing,
engineering, and publicity for the project. Gardner adds that
if Larry Silverstein loses his insurance case in court he
will not have enough money to carry off his plans, making
his teams plan more realistic.
This will be easier to do because
youll have more people willing to contribute,
Gardner adds. The team is now shopping a presentation of their
plan to corporations for possible funding. For more information
visit www.teamtwintowers.org.
Sam Lubell
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