Episode 6: The Design Team: How It’s Built Sean Johnson, Carlos Valverde, and Duan He, 3 WTC project executives; Michiko Ashida, 4 WTC design director

Larry Silverstein purchased the Twin Towers at the age of 70 on July 24, 2001, only to see the complex destroyed in the 9/11 terror attacks. He has devoted the rest of his life to rebuilding the Trade Center. Despite many major obstacles over the past two decades, he has convinced some of the world’s leading companies to move into his new office buildings, and helped transform Lower Manhattan into a vibrant live-work neighborhood. A year into the pandemic that has temporarily brought the neighborhood, the city and the country to a halt, Silverstein reflects on his experience, and the road to recovery for New York and the nation.

How do you create a place of remembrance in the heart of a bustling city? Michael Arad was a young, unknown architect when he beat out 5,200 others to win a competition to design the National 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center. He talks about what inspired him, changes he was forced to make to his design, the opening of the Memorial on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and his thoughts on a national memorial to the victims of Covid-19. Silverstein Properties long-time head of operations Bill Dacunto talks about surviving the 9/11 attacks. 

Architect Robert Whitlock, and developers Maria Masi, Marty Burger and Dawanna Williams talk about 5 WTC, the only residential tower proposed for the WTC site. Featuring 1,325 apartments, including 330 that will be permanently affordable, this will be the country’s most significant and anticipated energy efficient and sustainable apartment building when it opens in 2026. 

Before any companies moved into the new World Trade Center towers, a small group of artists set up makeshift studios in raw space overlooking the site. From this rare perch, they began to capture and document the massive construction project below. These artists tell their personal stories of passion, hope, renewal and perseverance from their studios in the sky, and the important role that art and creativity continues to play in Lower Manhattan.

Leslie Koch offers a guided tour of the under-construction performing arts center, which will be the next building to open at the WTC site. She discusses the importance of arts and culture to Lower Manhattan and to a city that is just now beginning to recover from the pandemic. We witness the very first musical performance in the new building with violinist Gregory Harrington and cellist Eleanor Norton.  

As the unofficial chroniclers of the World Trade Center rebuilding, Joe Woolhead, Judith Dupré and Mike Marcucci talk about the obstacles and highlights of documenting - through film, photography and books - the 16-acre site on a daily basis over the past 20 years, and what is next for New York City. They are joined by Grace Capobianco who has been reporting on the rebirth of Lower Manhattan for 20 years. 

The people who built the new office towers for Larry Silverstein offer a behind-the-scenes look at the design, engineering and construction challenges of overseeing 3,000 daily construction workers build a $20 billion project in the heart of America’s oldest and most iconic business district. They discuss the sustainable design and security features in the new buildings, and how their work inspired high-rise design and construction all over the world. 

Jessica Lappin, President of the Alliance for Downtown New York, and Catherine McVay Hughes, a 33-year resident of Lower Manhattan and former chair of Manhattan Community Board One discuss their experience living and working in Lower Manhattan as their community recovered from the 9/11 attacks. They talk about the challenges of attracting new companies, businesses, residents and visitors back to the area, and offer insight on how Downtown can recover from the pandemic, and once again become one of the most popular, successful 24/7, mixed-use neighborhoods in the country. 

Michael Bloomberg was sworn in as Mayor of New York City just four months after 9/11, and for the next 12 years, he oversaw much of the area’s and the city’s remarkable recovery. He was one of the earliest proponents of Downtown’s transformation from a 9-5 business center into a vibrant mixed-use 24/7 neighborhood. Mayor Bloomberg shares his thoughts on how the city can recover from the pandemic, and the lessons we can draw from the World Trade Center rebuilding. Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton talks about transforming the new World Trade Center into a vibrant campus, with food, drinks, music and art.

Over 15 million square feet of New York’s newest office space were destroyed on 9/11, forcing a mass exodus of office tenants from Downtown to other parts of the city. Mary Ann Tighe talks about what it took to convince companies to return to the new World Trade Center, and how the area became the media, communications and technology capital of New York, home to Condé Nast, Spotify and Uber, as well as luxury brands including Moet Hennessy and Diageo. She discusses the future of office space after more than a year of working remotely, and what the recovery from the pandemic means for the World Trade Center, Downtown Manhattan and cities across America.