WORLD TRADE

CENTER
TRANSPORTATIO
N HUB
• Architect : Santiago
Calatrava
• Location : African Burial
Ground National
Monument, 290 Broadway,
New York, NY 10007, USA
• Category : Transportation
Hub
• Project Year : 2016
• Principal Building
Materials: Steel, Concrete,
Stone, Painted Metal
Panels,Glass
ARCHITECT
SANTIAGO CALATRAVA VALLS
HOW HE DESIGNS ?
• He is an organic architect who finds his inspiration in the human body
and in nature.
• he has learned to combine sculptural concepts with technology to
create designs that are both visually striking and structurally daring.
• Calatrava’s constructions are inspired by natural forms like plants,
bird wings, and the human body.
• His engineering background has enabled him to experiment with
kinetic architecture.
• Many of his bridges open, the Planetarium in Valencia, which
resembles an eye, has metal sides that can be lowered to suggest
eyelids, his design for the new cathedral in Oakland allows the roof to
open and close like two hands in prayer and the transparent atrium in
the newly completed Milwaukee Art Museum Santiago Calatrava.
•  The Milwaukee Art Museum is enclosed by a large “brise soleil”
which opens and closes like the wings of a bird.
 • Designed to allow the
“Way of Light” to pass
through the main hub
of the transit hall at
10:28 a.m.—the
moment that the
North Tower of the
WTC collapsed on
September 11, 2001.

• Symbolizing the light

that continues to
shine through after
the darkness of the
tragedy, the Oculus
opening allows light to
fill the massive space
CONCEPTU as a memorial to the
AL attacks on the twin
SKETCHES towers.
 LOAD
DISTRIBUTI
ON
ABOUT
THE
DESIGN
S
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• 335-foot-long skylight
• ribs extend to create two canopies over the
north and south portions of the plaza. rafters
spring from two 350 foot arches, between
which, an operable skylight frames a sliver of the
New York sky
• this elongated aperture opens on temperate
days.
• comprised of steel ribs and glass, the center
piece of the development is the ‘oculus‘ — an
elliptical free-standing structure designed
by Calatrava to evoke the image of a bird being
released from a child’s hands
• the lower of which is approximately 34 feet (10
meters) below street level, and 160 feet (49
meters) below the apex of the operable skylight.
the column-free elliptical space measures 350
feet (107 meters) — roughly the same length as
a soccer field.
• west of the subway — 8 feet (2.4 meters) below
the lower concourse — is the PATH hall, an area
which provides ticketing, fare control and other
services for access to PATH trains.
• The angle of light is used as a guiding
principle for orientation.
• Every year, a beam of light can pass
through the opening in the roof and
projects all the way down the center of the
Oculus floor.
• Light is used as a structural element in the
Hub, saying that the building is supported
by “columns of light.”
• At night, the illuminated Oculus serves as a
lantern in the reconstructed WTC site.
• On September 11th of each year, the
Oculus’s operable skylight opens to bring a
slice of the New York sky into the building.
A placard at the Oculus explains: “On 9/11
each year, weather permitting, the skylight of
the Oculus will be opened to allow the sun to
fill this entire space. Envisioned by Santiago
Calatrava to symbolize a dove released from
a child’s hand, the Oculus is situated at an
angle in contrast to neighboring buildings ,
thereby allowing the light to shine directly
overhead and for the sun to move across its
axis exactly on September 11th each
year.Glazing brings copious amounts of light
into the space, which has an open floor
surrounded by two levels of shops.The
combination of natural light and sculptural
form give dignity and beauty to the building's
lower levels and pedestrian walkways, and
provide New York City with a kind of public
space it has not previously enjoyed."
- Calatrava
PHASES OF STRUCTURE
CONSTRUCTION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• https://www.designboom.com/architecture/santiago-calatrava-world-
trade-center-wtc-transportation-hub-oculus-new-york-03-22-2016/
• https://www.dezeen.com/2016/08/29/santiago-calatrava-oculus-worl
d-trade-center-transportation-hub-new-york-photographs-hufton-cro
w/
• https://www.archdaily.com/783965/world-trade-center-transportatio
n-hub-santiago-calatrava