With proposals published and debated in the New York Times
and elsewhere, the World Trade Center site has generated an unprecedented amount of architectural activity and speculation, beautifully captured in this book from Architectural Record
special correspondent Stephens. This 9"×12" compendium presents the five "official" proposals considered by the city and other groups involved in the decision, including a version of the winning design from David Childs, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with collaborating architect Daniel Liebeskind. The illustrations give lots of detail in vibrant color and black-and-white; the text is clear and full of information—and enthusiasm, even for the 120 or so projects that will never be realized. Some of them, like the stunning grid-like project from Richard Meier, Peter Eisenman, Charles Gwathmey and Stephen Holl that brilliantly riffs on the original WTC's facade, will be familiar. Others, like Hans Hollein's exact replicas of the original towers—except attached at the top by something that looks like a burned-out overturned car—will be less so. AR
editor-in-chief Robert A. Ivy provides a foreword to what is sure to be the architecture book of the season. (Sept.)
