Plans shared in May 2005 for the cultural center that will be constructed at the World Trade Center site revealed a horizontal building that seems to hover ethereally above the ground, providing both protection of and a gentle entryway to the memorial that will honor the lives lost on 9/11.

Click here to View Cultural Center Schematic Design Slide Show

Snøhetta architects Craig Dykers and Kjetil Thorsen were warmly received as they presented their vision for the structure that will become a home to a visitor center serving the entire WTC site, as well as selected cultural institutions. Governor George Pataki, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and other rebuilding officials showered praise on the design for the sensitivity it shows toward the memorial that it will neighbor and the role it will play in the overall rebuilding of the site.

Calling it “exceptional,” Pataki praised the design’s horizontal nature for respecting the memorial that will lie beyond it while also complementing the verticality of the Freedom Tower as it rises 1,776 feet into the sky. “It really does promise to be another shining star in the dazzling design constellation” that will be the rebuilt World Trade Center site, Bloomberg said.

The Design

Addressing a large crowd assembled at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the architects helped explain the careful consideration that went into the design and the role they hope the center will ultimately play as part of the experience of the memorial, the rebuilding of the WTC site as a whole, and a cultural renaissance in Lower Manhattan.

To show deep respect for the memorial was an essential guiding force behind the design process, the architects explained. It helped determine the building's horizontal nature from the start. "It is unique in New York to find a place where we can find comfort so close to the ground," Thorsen said. By preserving it, the architects hoped to also provide a fitting entrance to the poignant voids that will lie behind it.

That the building would be elevated -- both to allow natural light to flood into the memorial and to create a space of transition for visitors as they pass from the city streets and again when they leave -- was also key. "It will provide a space of transition to reenergize your life as you go back into the city," Thorsen said.

To meet these goals, explained Dykers, required a unique structural design calling for the building, in contrast to most, to be supported from above. "Like a table," he offered, there will be four legs and a top that are constructed first. The remainder of the building will be suspended from this base and built from the top down.

At the center of the building, a gently sloping ramp will bring visitors into the raised lobby, which will be flooded by natural light from above. The ramp will also be connected to concourses leading directly into the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, and an outdoor atrium will reflect natural light and air throughout the building, the entrance ramps, and the concourses.

The design calls for five double-height floors with a landscaped rooftop garden that will afford a unique view of the Memorial Plaza. Cultural institutions selected to have a presence at the memorial site will fill the upper floors, and the ground floor will be home to the visitor’s center.