Quote:
Originally Posted by kickser
The new plaza aka. 911 memorial, looks so much better then the Austin J. Tobin Plaza looked. AJT Plaza looked like a depressive place, while the new plaza looks so fresh, lively, neat, w/e one can say about it.
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The original WTC plaza was a product of the Minimalist design aesthetic of the mid '60s (i.e."LESS IS MORE") like the original
Lincoln Center plaza.
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vintage postcard
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7158635@N05/4866278079/
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The WTC plaza was highly criticized at the time for being too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.
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I can remember being in the WTC plaza before the Visita hotel and WFC was built, and being blasted by the winds coming off the Hudson. I loved stepping 6 inches from the protection of the south tower and being in that wind tunnel. Of course, the memorial plaza serves a completely different purpose and is wonderfully human friendly.
We are unlikely to see treeless expanses of stone plazas for a long time.