Click on the image to explore the World Trade Center Rebuilding gallery mural.

This site presents a digital version of the World Trade Center Rebuilding section in the Museum's permanent exhibition which addresses both the history of the original Twin Towers and the rebuilding at Ground Zero over the decades after the tragic events of 9/11. This content is displayed as a timeline in the gallery's south wall in a mural 29 feet wide by 11 feet tall wall and is stratified in three thematic zones, as shown in the image above: Timeline, Construction Views, and Master Plans. To access the same content of images and text here, click on the menu tabs to view slideshows.

Timeline

September 11th, 2001 - Two commercial airplanes hijacked by terrorists intentionally fly into the Twin Towers. In the following hours both towers collapse, killing nearly 3,000 people. FEMA (left) and Trinity Church Wall Street (right)
February 2002 - A coalition of design organizations release New York New Visions, a report that offers a vision for regional growth and development. In July, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) issue the joint Preliminary Urban Design Study for the memorial and adjacent sites, including transit facilities, office, retail space, hotel, and infrastructure.
February 2002 - A coalition of design organizations release New York New Visions, a report that offers a vision for regional growth and development. In July, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) issue the joint Preliminary Urban Design Study for the memorial and adjacent sites, including transit facilities, office, retail space, hotel, and infrastructure.
Silverstein Properties.
The new tower sits on a186-foot-tall bomb-resistant fortified podium and is set back 65 feet from West Street. Floorplans redrawn by The Skyscraper Museum (top), PWP landscape Architecture (bottom)
September 8th, 2018 - The No. 1 Subway Station, which runs through the Oculus, opens to the public, signaling the full restoration of mass transit after 9/11. Santiago Calatrava, retraced by José Hernandez
June 2018 - 3 World Trade Center, a 1,079-foot tall skyscraper designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, opens to the public. Courtesy Silverstein Properties
November 29th, 2017 - The Sphere, a 25-foot-tall copper sculpture that survived the 9/11 attacks, returns to the World Trade Center. It is placed in Liberty Park, a one-acre landscaped park sitting on top of the entrance to the WTC Vehicle Security Center. Josh Vogel
March 17th, 2016 - Santiago Calatrava’s WTC Transportation Hub, with the Oculus atrium as its centerpiece, opens to the public. The project ends up costing $3.9 billion. Josh Vogel
June 2015 - Silverstein commissions Bjarke Ingels to design a new 2 WTC for anchor tenants News Corp and 20th Century Fox. A year later, News Corp abandons negotiations with Silverstein. Courtesy Silverstein Properties
October 2015 - REX Architecture is selected to design the Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center, located to the east of One WTC. The project integrates three performance halls and features a translucent, veined-marble facade. Courtesy REX, © LUXIGON.
July 10th, 2014 - The Fulton Street Transit Center, an underground hub connecting sixteen subway lines and the World Trade Center, opens to the public. Courtesy Grimshaw
May 20th, 2014 - The 9/11 Museum, located underneath the memorial plaza, opens to the public. The museum incorporates remnants of the original World Trade Center, including the slurry retaining wall and the towers’ foundations. © Snøhetta. Bottom: National September 11 Memorial & Museum
May 10th, 2013 - One World Trade tops out, reaching its final architectural height at 1,776 feet. The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) decrees the tower the tallest in the Western Hemisphere. A year later, the building opens with Condé Nast, the anchor tenant, occupying a third of the rentable office space. Courtesy Joe Woolhead and James Ewing.
November 2012 - 4 World Trade Center, the second tower on the sixteen-acre site, opens. Courtesy Joe Woolhead
October 2012 - The Port Authority and the St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church agree to rebuild on the southern end of the complex. Architect Santiago Calatrava is given the commission to design the church. Santiago Calatrava
September 11th, 2011 - The National September 11 Memorial Plaza opens on the tenth anniversary of the attacks. Courtesy The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Michael Young, and Barack Obama Presidential Library.
Sept 2008 - Architecture firm Snøhetta releases a final design for the 9/11 Museum pavilion. © Snøhetta
Sept 7, 2006 - Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority come to an agreement over the control of the towers. Silverstein would develop and control 2, 3 and 4 WTC, while the Port Authority would develop and control One WTC and 5 WTC. Courtesy Silverstein Properties
Sept 7, 2006 - Larry Silverstein unveils the designs for 2, 3 and 4 World Trade Center with architects Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, and Fumihiko Maki. Courtesy Silverstein Properties, LMDC.
May 30, 2006 - Developer Larry Silverstein opens the 57-story 7 World Trade Center, the first skyscraper to be rebuilt after 9/11. Photographer Steve Friedman, courtesy Silverstein Properties. Bottom: Courtesy Silverstein Properties.
June 30, 2005 - After the NYPD expresses concerns surrounding the security of the Freedom Tower, David Childs reveals a radically redesigned skyscraper at a press conference. Courtesy Silverstein Properties
The new tower sits on a186-foot-tall bomb-resistant fortified podium and is set back 65 feet from West Street. Floorplans redrawn by The Skyscraper Museum (top), PWP landscape Architecture (middle), and Silverstein Properties (bottom)
July 7, 2004 - A groundbreaking ceremony is held for the Freedom Tower. A twenty-ton inscribed granite cornerstone marks the symbolic event. Courtesy Silverstein Properties
June 2004 - The LMDC selects organizations for a proposed cultural center, including the International Freedom Center. In May 2005, Snøhetta releases a design for the center. LMDC
January 2004 - Architect Santiago Calatrava unveils his design for a permanent World Trade Center PATH terminal and transit hub. LMDC
January 6th, 2004 - The LMDC selects Reflecting Absence by architect Michael Arad and Peter Walker as the winner of the memorial competition. Courtesy Peter Walker Partners
The 1,776 foot twisting glass tower features a steel diagrid exterior frame and an asymmetrical spire. Above the office space, an open-air cable frame contains wind turbines mounted on a central structural core. Courtesy Silverstein Properties
December 2003 - Architect David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and Daniel Libeskind present their joint design for the Freedom Tower at a press conference in Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan. Silverstein Properties and LMDC.
September 2003 - Libeskind releases a refined master plan with a proposed Freedom Tower, reaching a symbolic height of 1,776 feet. LMDC
November 23rd, 2003 - Destroyed on 9/11, the PATH terminal at the WTC temporarily reopens to the public after being closed for over two years. Jarkko Lain, Wikimedia Commons
Sept 2003 - Libeskind releases a refined master plan with a proposed Freedom Tower, reaching a symbolic height of 1,776 feet. LMDC
June 2003 - The LMDC announces an international design competition for the 4.7-acre memorial site. Courtesy Michael Arad
Feb 27, 2003 - The LMDC selects Studio Daniel Libeskind’s “Memory Foundations” as the winner of the competition. Courtesy Libeskind Studio
September 2002 - The LMDC selects seven finalists from 406 submissions for a master plan for the site. The teams present their designs at the newly reopened World Financial Center in December. All finalist designs courtesy LMDC. Presentation photo courtesy Alex Garvin.
December 12th, 2002 - Mayor Bloomberg delivers his “Vision for the 21st Century Lower Manhattan” speech. Peterson Littenberg
September 10th, 2002 - The Viewing Wall, a gridded metal fence with graphics allows visitors to see directly into Ground Zero. The panels document the history of World Trade Center and of Lower Manhattan and list the names of those who died in both the 1993 and 2001 attacks. Pentagram
August 2002 - The New York Times Magazine publishes proposals from architects Rafael Viñoly, Rem Koolhaas/OMA, and Alexander Gorlin. Courtesy of Rafael Viñoly Architects, OMA, and Alexander Gorlin
July 20th, 2002 - Listening to the City conference, a town hall meeting held at the Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, draws more than 4,000 New Yorkers, making clear the need for community input in the planning process. Civic Alliance to Rebuild Downtown New York
May 2002 - The Port Authority and the LMDC commission the architecture and planning firm Beyer Blinder Belle to create master-plan concepts for the WTC site. LMDC
September 2001 - LEFT: Impromptu memorials appear around the site. The wrought-iron fence surrounding St. Paul’s Chapel becomes a repository for flowers, photos, flags, letters, religious items, and other mementos. Courtesy New York State Museum. RIGHT: The Viewing Platform, a ramp on Fulton Street that offers visitors elevated views of the site, opens in December. Diller Scofidio + Renfro

Construction

October 13th, 2001 - Debris removal at the Ground Zero continues 24 hours a day. Andrea Booher/FEMA
Memorial Plaza Aerial. Silverstein Properties, photo by Joe Woolhead.
Aerial view from the Hudson river looking through Brookfield place. Joe Woolhead
Birds eye view. Joe Woolhead
2018 - St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Liberty park overlooking the National September 11 Memorial & Museum designed by Santiago Calatrava. Michael Young
June 2015 - Oculus’s spinal skylight was completed signaling the end to a complicated construction process. Josh Vogel
June 2015 - Josh Vogel
Silverstein Properties, photo by Joe Woolhead
Joe Woolhead
2011 - View from the new W Hotel on Albany Street showing progress of Memorial and tower construction. Tower 4 is on the right. Water can be seen filling the North fountain. John Bartelstone
2010 - Tower 1 rising from the memorial Plaza. John Bartelstone
2009 - Inner basin of the north waterfall. John Bartlestone
June 10th, 2010 - Port Authority
2009 - Overall view of the entire site showing progress of the Memorial and Museum. Newly excavated East Bathtub is in the foreground. John Bartelstone
2004 - West Bathtub with Temporary PATH Station and excavation for original cornerstone of new Tower 1 before relocation. John Bartelstone
September 26th, 2008 - Joe Woolhead
2009 - Original Hudson and Manhattan Terminal foundation near the end of demolition. John Bartelstone
2011 - East Bathtub, foundations for Tower 2, new PATH concourse and Tower 3. No.1 train Subway tunnel is in the distance. John Bartelstone
2009 - Inner basin of the north waterfall. John Bartelstone
2003 - Temporary PATH Station nearing completion. John Bartelstone
2003 - Original Hudson Terminals tunnels built in 1908. John Bartelstone
2004 - Vertical and aerial showing the column locations of the original Towers 1 and 2. The column stubs were exposed expressly for this photograph. John Bartelstone
The Ground Zero site in state of partial excavation. Courtesy of the National September 11 Memorial Museum. Photograph donated by the Reverend Bill Keane of the First Baptist Church of Branford
June 27th, 2002 - Wikimedia Commons
2001 - Site clearing would occupy two years before new construction could begin. FEMA

Master Plans

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