Ground Zero plans hit new heights

TWO designs that would put the tallest buildings in the world at the site of the World Trade Centre have been selected as the finalists in the plan to redevelop Ground Zero.

The plan from Berlin architect Daniel Libeskind calls for glassy, angular buildings clustered around the foundations of the fallen towers.

The other, proposed by an international team of design firms known as THINK, evokes the original trade centre with twin towers of ethereal latticework.

The final plan will be picked at the end of the month.

"What we're doing today is advancing two extraordinary designs," Roland Betts, head of the redevelopment planning committee, said. Neither is "set in stone" but officials will try to retain the main concepts.

The final designs include a conceptual vision for where the victims' memorial might be built, but a plan is scheduled to be chosen in September after an international competition.

Nine proposals for redeveloping the 16-acre (6.4-hectare) site where nearly 2,800 people were killed were unveiled late last year.

The selection of the finalists came after a sometimes-contentious review that involved the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency overseeing redevelopment, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the trade centre site.

The finalists each feature buildings surpassing Malaysia's 1,483-ft (445m) Petronas Twin Towers, the tallest in the world. The trade centre towers were 1,350ft (405m).

A cluster of stark, geometric buildings one topped by a spire reaching 1,776 feet (532 meters) forms the core of Libeskind's design.

The THINK team, led by architects Rafael Vinoly and Frederic Schwartz, conceived a "World Cultural Centre" with two 1,665-ft (500m) towers.

The height of the buildings has been an issue. While many New Yorkers have called for soaring structures that would replace the twin towers, a New York Times/CBS poll found 53% would be unwilling to work in one of the higher floors at the site.

"I worked in the building for 20 years, and I wouldn't like to see the tallest building there," William Rodriguez, who heads a survivors' group, said.