History Of The World Trade Center - Term Paper Example

Architect of the WTC 3. Design of the WTC 4. Construction of the WTC 5. Location of the WTC 6. Technology used in the WTC 7. Main purpose of the WTC 8. The last day in the history of the WTC 1. Situation of New York City in the 1960s. The first plans for the building of a complex for international trade and finance were hatched in the aftermath of World War 2. The New York State Legislature gave permission for a “vast trade, commercial, hotel and convention facility that would complement the international center of finance that Wall Street had become” (Fernandez, 2012, pp. 5-6). The United States had intervened in Europe and the Far East to contribute substantial economic and military aid to its allies, and this was the last indication in a long list of developments, that the colonial days were over, and America was a strong and stable state, ready to take a lead in world affairs.

The United States of America was starting to experience some economic boom years and this helped to provide the funding for civic developments that had been missing in the years between the wars. Industrialization in America had happened extremely quickly and advances in science and technology were giving American products the edge in world markets. Added to this, there were still streams of well qualified immigrants ready to give the economy an extra boost. There was a property boom in the 1960s which favored large building projects, especially those which undertook to renovate brown field sites and create jobs.

New York itself was very crowded, but there was ample opportunity in the former docks areas to tear down old stock and make way for progress. The early 1960s was a period of optimism in the United States, and this helped to foster a climate of enterprise and adventure. In the arts, iconoclastic forms were all the rage, and in architecture the rigid forms of modernism were giving way to more playful postmodern ideas. It was a time of change, and this was exactly the right moment for a monumental vision like the World Trade Center to finally come to fruition. 2. Architect of the World Trade Center.

The man who was chosen to as the main designer of the World Trade Center was architect Minoru Yamasaki. He was born in 1912 to immigrant Japanese parents in the Seattle area where he went to school at Garfield High School. His parents were not wealthy, and he had to work hard to achieve his ambition, studying maths and science and doing well enough to be accepted to study architecture. It is reported that he suffered from some anti-Japanese prejudice, and he even worked in an Alaskan salmon cannery to help fun his studies at Washington University (Flowers, p. 178) Yamasaki’s later career continued with designs in the Seattle area that include the Pacific Science Center, the IBM Building and the Rainier Bank Tower.

(Olson, 2012). He also produced internationally renowned designs in other countries too, including Saudi Arabia and Japan. With respect to his design of the World Trade Center, Yamasaki was conscious of the international dimensions of the building, and the role that the United States plays in the modern world. He is quoted as saying “World Trade means world peace. The World Trade Center should, because of its importance, become a representation of man’s belief in humanity, his need for individual dignity, his beliefs in the cooperation of men, and through cooperation, his ability to