For me, one of the benefits of membership in the AIA is the opportunity it affords to meet other architects who feel the same passion as I do for architecture. It is a joy to share stories of design that overcomes great challenges, technical and otherwise, to create thriving, beautiful spaces. It is a reminder of the positive effects that good planning can have on communities.
Almost 25 years ago the 9/11 terrorist attack destroyed the World Trade Center (WTC) Twin Towers along with the entire 16-acre WTC Site, devastating Lower Manhattan, including critical interstate and local transportation systems. Prime responsibility for planning and designing the initial restoration of the WTC Site’s Port Authority Trans Hudson (PATH) commuter rail station and developing the Transportation Master Plan for Lower Manhattan that spanned from Broadway through the WTC Site to the World Financial Center and Hudson River ferries fell on the shoulders of Robert Davidson, FAIA, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Chief Architect, and Rob Eisenstat, FAIA, his Principal Architect for PATH.
Last month, Bob and Rob were guests at the virtual meeting of the Public Architects leadership and ad-hoc members, and they gave a riveting presentation on their work rebuilding the crumbled transit network beneath Lower Manhattan. They outlined the role played by the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey in working effectively with multiple stakeholder organizations and the Lower Manhattan community to develop the Transportation Master Plan framework for future construction. Their vision for a WTC Transit Hub, ultimately designed by Santiago Calatrava, today serves as the “Grand Central” of Lower Manhattan. A below-grade downtown concourse now connects multiple subways, trains and ferry lines and serves as the ‘mixing bowl’ for adjacent commercial, cultural and residential districts. The 9/11 Memorial and Liberty Park offer contemplative open spaces and clear pedestrian paths within the WTC Site for visitors and residents, while the above-and below-ground transit connections provide transit portals to accommodate over 35,000 commuters a day. The WTC Transit Hub has proven to be a catalyst for urban development and can serve as a benchmark for how to serve the public good.
We are very grateful to Bob and Rob for sharing their experience with us and hope that they will join us at other upcoming Public Architecture events this year.
Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, FAIA, Senior Campus Planner & Architect, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Public Architect Leadership Committee
WTC plaza looking west, photo by Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, 2026