A New Book Details the Building of One World Trade Center
The riveting story behind the most expensive skyscraper ever built is finally being told in full, thanks to the new book One World Trade Center: Biography of the Building by Judith Dupré, who was granted unprecedented access to the project’s key players as she chronicled the 104-story landmark’s epic construction. The 284-page account starts on September 12, 2001, with then-mayor Rudy Giuliani’s declaration that the site would be rebuilt, and it vividly depicts the ensuing 15 years, during which Ground Zero was transformed into one of lower Manhattan’s busiest hubs. The volume also features more than 250 photos as well as plans of the building and surrounding area, including many never-before-seen images of the construction.
Designed by architect David Childs, of the firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill, the 1,776-foot-tall edifice (anchored by Condé Nast, which owns Architectural Digest) cost a staggering $3.9 billion to build and went through several iterations before the ultimate design was determined. Dupré offers unique insight into many of the proposed designs for the 16-acre site, including plans from Richard Meier, David Rockwell, Rafael Viñoly, Shigeru Ban, and Charles Gwathmey. The obelisk-inspired tower officially broke ground in April 2006 and welcomed its first tenants in November 2014; to date, more than two-thirds of the three million square feet of office space within the tower has been leased.
On Tuesday, April 26, hundreds fêted the book’s release at a party on the 64th floor of the building, including Dupré, who elaborated on why she was drawn to this particular project. “One World Trade Center's design is timeless, untethered from trends,” she says. “In its surface we see every passing cloud, every shade of blue, the faces of passersby, the architecture of earlier centuries. I was moved by what this beautiful yet humble tower stands for and all it means to New Yorkers—and to the nation.”