Rebuilding 7 World Trade Center

  • By Anna Rothschild
  • Posted 09.01.11
  • NOVA

 7 World Trade Center was the first tower rebuilt at Ground Zero after 9/11. Developer Larry Silverstein describes some of the building's new features, and explains why he and architect David Childs made changes to the original design.  

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Running Time: 01:48

Transcript

REBUILDING 7 WORLD TRADE CENTER

Posted: September 1, 2011

LARRY SILVERSTEIN: 7, the original 7, was the last building to come down on 9/11. And I realized that it was terribly important to start rebuilding down here. I remember talking to the governor and talking to the mayor, and I said, "We ought to get 7 going." And they said, "Go ahead." And so, we proceeded with David Childs and the Skidmore firm to look at the possibility of just rebuilding the original 7, with some modifications, but essentially the same building.

When they built the trade center originally, Port Authority determined to put 12 or 14 square blocks of property together, eliminate the street grid, create a massive super block. And it became obvious that one of the things that, that really should be done, since we're gonna have to redo it, is put the street grid back. But, if we did that, then 7 would have to be redesigned, because it would block Greenwich Street. So, I said, "David, let's redesign 7."

So, the floor sizes became smaller, the building became a little bit taller, the floor shape is a parallelogram as opposed to a trapezoid, and we went to a curtain wall design that David developed for us. And the result is what you see today: a building with great beauty.

Finished? Okay.

DIRECTOR: Yeah, thank you.

LARRY SILVERSTEIN: You're very welcome.

ON-SCREEN TEXT: 7 World Trade Center opened in May of 2006.

It was the first construction project finished at the World Trade Center after 9/11.

The building is 1.7-million square feet and 52-stories high.

Currently, 90% of its available space has been rented.

Silverstein's firm, Silverstein Properties, is on the 38th Floor.

Credits

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Video Short Produced and edited by
Anna Rothschild
Original Footage
© WGBH Educational Foundation

IMAGE AND STOCK FOOTAGE CREDITS

(main image: 7 World Trade Center)
Courtesy Silverstein Properties
Images of Larry Silverstein and 7 World Trade Center
Courtesy Silverstein Properties
(ground zero aerial)
© impactimage/istockphoto
(nyc skyline with the twin towers)
© bentrussell/istockphoto

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