Towering success
Angus Gillespie presents a history of New York's World Trade Center
Archived article from Jan 21, 2000
By Amy Vames
Since it was first envisioned, the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan has had more than its share of detractors, especially among architects, engineers and urban planners. But it is a hit with the public and has become a powerful symbol not only of New York City but of the United States, says Angus Kress Gillespie, associate professor of American studies.
The story of how the Twin Towers overcame great odds to become a success intrigued Gillespie enough to write what is likely the first broadly cultural book about the skyscrapers: "Twin Towers: The Life of New York City's World Trade Center" (Rutgers University Press).
But why the Twin Towers? Why not focus on a more historically well-known icon such as the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty? "Each era produces its own artifacts," Gillespie explains. "The Empire State Building is a magnificent emblem of the 1930s, but the Twin Towers are more an emblem of the '70s, an emblem of our own times."
Gillespie found that another advantage of researching such a recently built facility is that many of the principal players are still alive and were willing to be interviewed for the book, including Guy Tozzoli, director of the World Trade Center, and Ray Monti, the project's chief engineer.
Gillespie draws a parallel between the new book and a book he wrote 10 years ago with American studies department chair Michael Rockland. "Looking for America on the New Jersey Turnpike" also examined "a heroic work of civil engineering," Gillespie says.
"Besides being a superhighway, the turnpike has implications for all kinds of ideas, such as mobility in America. In a way, my book on the Twin Towers is a natural outgrowth of this kind of thinking. The strategy is much the same: to look at the politics that created the environment in which it could be built, the engineering obstacles that had to be overcome, the nuts and bolts of how it was done, and how people have reacted to it."
The book spans the World Trade Center's history, from its beginnings in the late 1950s to its completion in 1973 to its current status as both a prestigious business address and a popular tourist destination. Gillespie explores the original concept for a World Trade Center and how the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey shepherded the project. Once the project was approved by all necessary parties -- an arduous process in itself -- countless engineering and architectural problems arose.
For example, the architects had to figure out how to make the towers -- which would be the tallest buildings in New York City -- stable enough to withstand high winds without toppling or making their human occupants seasick. Another problem was a tugboat strike that stalled the project for a while when steel beams could not be delivered to the construction site.
There was also public criticism of the towers: that they were banal architecturally, that they would be a major source of pollution and that the Port Authority's involvement constituted unnecessary interference in private enterprise. Despite all the problems and public denunciations, the World Trade Center was dedicated in 1973 and has been an unqualified success since then.
Gillespie believes time has helped soften dislike of the World Trade Center. "For New Yorkers born in the '70s, when the buildings were already up, the World Trade Center has always been there. They've accepted it and warmly embraced it," he says.
And despite continuing disdain for the center's design by architecture critics, the towers have become a symbol easily recognizable by just about anyone in America and by many foreigners. Virtually every movie set in the Big Apple will include an establishing shot of the World Trade Center, Gillespie notes.
Furthermore, "If a visitor comes to New York City from anywhere in the world, chances are that if he or she is going to buy a postcard of the visit, it's going to be one of the Twin Towers," Gillespie says. "This is Mecca, the golden dream, the place they are looking for." When asked why he thinks that's so, Gillespie muses, "Like other artifacts in America, there is a break between high culture and popular culture. You find the same thing with the St. Louis Gateway Arch. For the most part, highbrow architectural critics despair, but the people love it."
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