World Trade Center is the name of both a historic building complex in New York City and a newer building complex that replaced it. The original World Trade Center, including twin 110-story towers, was largely destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001 , in the worst terrorist attack in United States history.
Construction of a new World Trade Center complex began in 2002. The new complex includes the One World Trade Center tower, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum , and several office buildings.
New World Trade Center complex.
A memorial to the September 11 victims—including reflecting pools that occupy the land where the twin towers once stood—opened at the site in 2011. The National September 11 Memorial Museum opened there in 2014.
In 2014, the 1,776-foot (541-meter) One World Trade Center opened at the site. The glass tower, rising from a base made of concrete, steel, and titanium, was designed by the American architect David Childs.
In 2016, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, known for its grand main hall topped with a superstructure called the Oculus, opened at the site. The hub was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava .
History.
The original World Trade Center was designed by the American architect Minoru Yamasaki. Construction began in 1966. Tenants began to occupy One World Trade Center, at 1,368 feet (417 meters) the taller of the two towers, in 1970, and the 1,362-foot (415-meter) Two World Trade Center in 1971. The complex was officially dedicated in 1973. It cost more than $750 million to build. About 50,000 people worked in the two towers.
The center originally consisted of seven buildings, which housed many U.S. government agencies and organizations involved in international trade. The center was the target of a terrorist attack in 1993, when a large bomb exploded in the complex’s underground parking garage. The blast killed 6 people and injured more than 1,000 others. Four men, including Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian Muslim cleric, were convicted of the bombing and sent to prison.
On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists in two hijacked commercial jetliners deliberately crashed into the two towers. Thousands of gallons of jet fuel fed raging fires that weakened the World Trade Center’s two towers and one of its other buildings, causing them to collapse. The fires and collapse killed about 2,800 people and injured many others. That same day, another hijacked plane crashed into the Pentagon Building , near Washington, D.C. Hijackers crashed a fourth jet in a Pennsylvania field to prevent it from being reclaimed by passengers.
Loading the player...Why was the World Trade Center chosen as a target for terrorists?
