Animation RenderingsThe New York Arc of Triumph
This
116-floor twin-tower structure is ambitious in architectural and engineering
terms, bold in political and historical symbolism, and sends an importance
message about the inevitable triumph of tolerance
over hatred and violence. Each
tower is separately formed by a series of graduated elliptical structures.
The foundation of each tower is elliptically shaped and each successive
floor is shaped by reducing the major axis by nine inches and increasing the
minor axis by nine inches. Thus the
shape of the 58th floor – halfway to the top of each tower
– will be circular. The perfect
circle will then be modified by a continued nine inch alteration per floor
creating a gradual transformation of the shape of this structure all the
way to the top of the building, reversing the transformation shaping the tower
on the way up. People looking at
the building will see a reversed cone shape.
As they walk around the building, the Arc of Triumph will
appear to have reversed itself into an upright cone. These
two elliptically shaped structures, standing side by side, form an arch under
which traffic from West Broadway will be allowed to flow. Fifteen-inch
titanium pipes are spaced in a lattice work around the outside of each tower and
security is provided by a core, within each tower, made of concrete.
Each core or central column, 76 feet by 56 feet, will provide
refuge for anyone in either tower should the buildings ever suffer a natural
disaster or assault like that experienced on 9/11.
The walls of the secure area are three feet thick with 6 to 9 inch
expansion joints all around the core area, allowing for movement of the exterior
structure. The Arc of Triumph is
engineered to provide protection even if there is a catastrophic incident
causing the towers, save their central core, to collapse.
At the top, the twin-towers come together forming an arch, giving rise to
the name of this structure: the Arc of Triumph.
Again, the symbolism here is simple and powerful.
The arch is specifically shaped like a “V” recalling the “V” for
victory made famous by Winston Churchill in World War II and emphasizing the
political symbolism of this structure. The
triumph represented is that of modern architectural design and technology over
seemingly impossible challenges, of American resolve in the face of an
almost unprecedented foreign attack, and of the spirit of tolerance and
hope for the future over bigotry, fear, and death.
And only the United States of America has the financial and technological
capacity to build a structure as geometrically complex as The Arc of Triumph.