World Trade Center

Introduction

The World Trade Center in New York City, United States,

(sometimes informally referred to as the WTC or the

Twin Towers) was a complex of seven buildings in Lower
Manhattan, mostly designed by architect Minoru
Yamasaki and engineer Leslie Robertson and developed
by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
 Planning
Initial plans, made public in 1961, identified a site
along the East River for the World Trade Center.
The floors consisted of 4 inch (10 cm) thick
lightweight concrete slabs laid on a fluted steel deck.
Hat trusses (or "outrigger truss") located from the
107th floor to the top of the buildings were designed to
support a tall communications antenna on top of each
building.
Construction

Groundbreaking for the

construction of the
World Trade Center was
on August 5, 1966.
A six-level basement was
built in the foundations.
 Construction

When the World Trade Center twin towers were

completed, the total costs to the Port Authority had
reached $900 million.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was on April 4, 1973.
 Criticism
Although the towers became an undeniable symbol of
New York City, they were not without flaws and were
handicapped in many ways.
Initially conceived as a complex dedicated to
companies and organizations directly taking part in
"world trade," they at first failed to attract the expected
clientele.
 The Complex
Ultimately the complex
came to consist of seven
buildings, but its most
notable features were the
main twin towers.
During the 1990s,
approximately 500
companies had offices in
the complex.
 The Complex
The World Trade Center complex was protected by an
extensive fire detection and voice evacuation paging
system upgraded after the 1993 bombing.
Although most of the space in the WTC complex was off-
limits to the general public, 2 WTC (South Tower)
featured a public observation area named "Top Of The
World."
The North Tower (1 WTC) had a restaurant on the 107th
floor called Windows on the World, which was an elegant
restaurant known as a place for big celebrations, such as
weddings.
 World Trade Center during the time
The Twin Towers became known worldwide, appearing
in movies, TV shows, postcards, merchandise, magazines
and much more, and became a New York icon, such as
the Empire State Building, or Statue of Liberty.
On February 13, 1975, the WTC North Tower was beset by
a fire which spread over nearly half of the 11th floor.
On February 26, 1993 at 12:17 PM, a Ryder truck filled
with 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of explosives was planted by
Ramzi Yousef and detonated in the underground garage
of the North Tower,
The Reconstruction
On November 22, 2004,
New York Governor
George Pataki named the
living former presidents
as honorary members of
the board rebuilding the
World Trade Center.
 11 september 2001
The September 11, 2001
attacks (often referred to
as 9/11) were a series of
coordinated suicide
attacks by al-Qaeda upon
the United States.
On that morning,
nineteen terrorists
affiliated with al-Qaeda
hijacked four commercial
passenger jet airliners
11 september 2001
American Airlines Flight
11, a Boeing 767-200 wide-
body aircraft, crashed into
the northern side of the
North Tower of the World
Trade Center (WTC) at
8:46:30 a.m. local time
(Eastern Daylight Time,
12:46:30 UTC), hitting at
the 94-98th floors.
 11 september 2001
United Airlines Flight 175, a Boeing 767-200, crashed
into the 78-85th floors of the South Tower at 9:02:59
a.m. local time (13:02:59)
Collapsed :The south tower (2 WTC) fell at
approximately 9:59 a.m., after burning for 56 minutes
in a fire caused by the impact of United Airlines Flight
175. The north tower (1 WTC) collapsed at 10:28 a.m.,
after burning for approximately 102 minutes.
There were 2,974 fatalities, not including the 19
hijackers: 246 on the four planes (no one on board of
the hijacked aircrafts survived), 2,603 in New York City
in the towers and on the ground, and 125 at the
Pentagon.
An additional 24 people remain listed as missing.
A total of 411 emergency workers who responded to
the scene lost their lives as they attempted to
implement rescue and fire suppression efforts.
 11 september 2001

According to the 9/11 Commission, approximately

16,000 people were below the impact zones in the
World Trade Center complex at the time of the attacks.
About 92% of those below the impact areas survived,
evacuating before the towers collapsed.
11 september 2001

In 1996, Bin Laden

issued his first fatwā
which called for
"American soldiers to
get out of Saudi Arabia".
A second fatwa, issued
by bin Laden in 1998,
"directed his followers to
kill Americans
anywhere".
11 september 2001
As media covered the
9/11 attacks unfolding,
many quickly speculated
that Bin Laden was
behind the attacks.
Fifteen of the attackers
were from Saudi Arabia,
two from the United Arab
Emirates, one from
Egypt, and one from
Lebanon.
 11 september 2001
Bin Laden initially denied, but later admitted
involvement in the incidents.
In November 2001, U.S. forces recovered a videotape
from a destroyed house in Jalalabad, Afghanistan,
where bin Laden admits foreknowledge of the attacks.
Shortly before the U.S. presidential election in 2004,
in a taped statement, bin Laden publicly
acknowledged al-Qaeda's involvement in the attacks
on the U.S, and admitted his direct link to the attacks.
 11 september 2001
In a videotape aired on Al Jazeera, on October 30,
2004, bin Laden said he had personally directed the 19
hijackers. In the video, Bin Laden said "we had agreed
with the Commander-General Muhammad Atta, Allah
have mercy on him, that all the operations should be
carried out within 20 minutes, before Bush and his
administration notice."
 11 september 2001
Minoru Yamasaki once stated: "I feel this way about it.
World trade means world peace and consequently the
World Trade Center buildings in New York ... had a
bigger purpose than just to provide room for tenants. The
World Trade Center is a living symbol of man's
dedication to world peace ... beyond the compelling need
to make this a monument to world peace, the World
Trade Center should, because of its importance, become
a representation of man's belief in humanity, his need for
individual dignity, his beliefs in the cooperation of men,
and through cooperation, his ability to find greatness."
 Conclusion
What I have tried to show in
this work is the two faces of
life, the two parts of man: the
part that is trying to make
world a better place, like
Minoru Yamasaki who
thought that he will create a
peace symbol, at least this was
his intention, and the other
part that is always destroying,
like the hijackers which find
Minoru’s peace symbol the
perfect place” to crash in”.