World Trade Center involved many other innovative techniques,
such as the slurry wall for digging
the foundation, and wind tunnel experiments.
The construction of the first World Trade Construction of the World Trade Center's North
Center was conceived as an urban Tower began in August 1968, and the South
renewal project, spearheaded by David Tower in 1969. Extensive use of prefabricated
Rockefeller, to help revitalize Lower Manhattan. components helped to speed up the
The project was developed by the Port construction process. The first tenants moved
Authority of New York and New Jersey, which into the North Tower in December 1970 and
hired architect Minoru Yamasaki who came up into the South Tower in January 1972. Four
with the specific idea for twin towers. After other low-level buildings were constructed as
extensive negotiations, the New part of the World Trade Center in the 1970s,
Jersey and New York state governments, which and a seventh building was constructed in the
oversee the Port Authority, agreed to support mid-1980s.
the World Trade Center project at the Radio
Row site on the Lower West
Side of Manhattan, New York City. To make the
agreement acceptable to New Jersey, the Port
Authority agreed to take over the bankrupt
Hudson & Manhattan Railroad, which brought
commuters from New Jersey to the Lower
Manhattan site and, upon the Port Authority's
takeover of the railroad, was renamed Port
Authority Trans-Hudson. Today known as PATH.
The towers were designed as framed
tube structures, which provided tenants with
open floor plans, uninterrupted by columns or
walls. This was accomplished using numerous
closely spaced perimeter columns to provide
much of the strength to the structure, along
with gravity load shared with the core columns.
The elevator system, which made use of sky
lobbies and a system of express and local
elevators, allowed substantial floor space to be
freed up for use as office space by making the
structural core smaller. The design
and construction of the World Trade
Center, most centrally its twin towers,
Beijing National Stadium Yoyogi National Gymnasium
The Beijing National Stadium or “Bird’s
Nest” is where the 2008 Summer Olympics
and Paralympics were held and where the Yoyogi National Gymnasium is
2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics will an arena located in Yoyogi Park, Tokyo, Japan
be held. which is famous for its suspension roof
design.
In an attempt to hide steel supports
for the retractable roof, required in the It was designed by Kenzo Tange and built
bidding process, the team developed the between 1961 and 1964 to
"random-looking additional steel" to blend house swimming and diving events in
the supports into the rest of the the 1964 Summer Olympics. A separate
stadium. Twenty-four trussed columns annex was used for
encase the inner bowl, each one weighing the basketball competition at those same
1,000 tons. Despite the random appearance games. It will also host handball competitions
of the Stadium, each half is nearly at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The design
symmetrical. After a collapse of a roof at inspired Frei Otto's arena designs for
the Charles de Gaulle Airport, Beijing the Olympic Stadium in Munich.
reviewed all major projects. It was decided to
The arena holds 13,291 people (9,079 stand
eliminate the retractable roof, the original
seats, 4,124 arena seats and 88 "royal box"
inspiration for the "nest" design, as well as
seats) and is now primarily used for ice
9,000 seats from the design. The removal of
hockey, futsal and basketball. Images of the
the elements helped to bring the project
arena are regularly featured at the end of
under the reduced construction budget of
NHK Newsline broadcasts because the NHK
$290 million, from an original
World studios are adjacent to the arena
$500 million. With the removal of the
along the edge of Yoyogi Park.
retractable roof, the building was lightened,
which helped it stand up to seismic activity;
however, the upper section of the roof was
altered to protect fans from weather. Due to
the stadium's outward appearance, it was
nicknamed "The Bird's Nest".
It is a joint venture among architects
Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
of Herzog & de Meuron, project architect
Stefan Marbach, artist Ai Weiwei, and CADG
which was led by chief architect Li Xinggang.
One World Trade Center
Willis Tower
The building's architect was David
Childs, whose firm Skidmore, Owings & The Willis Tower, built and still
Merrill (SOM) also designed the Burj
commonly referred to as Sears Tower, is a 108-
Khalifa and the Willis Tower. The
story, 1,451-foot
construction of below-ground utility relocations,
(442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois,
footings, and foundations for the new building
United States. At completion in 1973, it
began on April 27, 2006. One World Trade
surpassed the World Trade Center towers in
Center became the tallest structure in New
New York to become the tallest building in
York City on April 30, 2012, when it surpassed
the world, a title it held for nearly 25 years.
the height of the Empire State Building. The
The Willis Tower is the second-tallest
tower's steel structure was topped out on
building in the United States and the14th-
August 30, 2012. On May 10, 2013, the final
tallest in the world. More than one million
component of the skyscraper's spire was
people visit its observation deck each year,
installed, making the building, including its
making it one of Chicago's most popular tourist
spire, reach a total height of 1,776 feet
destinations. The structure was renamed in
(541 m). Its height in feet is a deliberate
2009 by the Willis Group as part of its lease
reference to the year when the United States
Declaration of Independence was signed.
The building opened on November 3, 2014.
on a portion of the tower's space. It is designed
by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM).
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Leon Building, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Aim
and other key commercial buildings.
He started in the profession in the
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is 1950's and by the late '60's was immensely
an American architectural, urban planning, succesful. Being the preferred architect by the
and engineering firm. It was formed in Chicago rich and famous in the boom years of Forbes
in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Park and Dasmarinas Village.
Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O.
Merrill. They opened their first branch in New
York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the Mañosa Brothers
largest architectural firms in the world. Their
primary expertise is in high-end commercial Jose T. Mañosa & Associates,
buildings, as it was SOM that led the way to the Architects & Planners emerged from the
widespread use of the modern international- original partnership MOÑOSA-ZIALCITA
style or "glass box" skyscraper. They have Architects which is a spin off from the
designed several of the tallest buildings in the original partnership MAÑOSA BROTHERS
world, including the John Hancock Architects & Planners (Manuel Jr., Francisco
Center (1969, second tallest in the world when and Jose) established in 1954 and
built), Willis Tower (1973, tallest in the world responsible for projects ranging from
for over twenty years), and Burj Khalifa (2010, commercial and residential buildings,
current world's tallest building). SOM provides conventional office, shops and factory
services in Architecture, Building Services/MEP buildings, hospitals and medical centers,
Engineering, Digital Design, Graphics, Interior schools, industrial complexes, new
Design, Structural Engineering, Civil communities and urban development.
Engineering, Sustainable Design and Urban In 1977, MAÑOSA BROTHERS was
Design & Planning. restructured in response to increased and
diversified demands, thereby creating new
autonomous firms which give emphasis to
Gabriel Formoso respective fields of specialization. One of the
firms was MAÑOSA-ZIALCITA Architects
He mostly designed his buildings in the
which immediately after its inception
modernist fervor, with himself describing his
continued the handling of the ongoing
work as the embodiment of "honesty of
projects left by MAÑOSA BROTHERS
conception and the principled concern for
Architects and Planners, and hence to the
human requirements transcending the
present firm JOSE T. MAÑOSA & ASSOCIATES
irrelevancies of prejudice instinct." He has built
Architects and Planners, principally owned
a tapestry of monuments, buildings and open
and managed by Architect Jose T. Mañosa.
spaces during the early years of Makati's
business district. Just like the Doña Narcisa de
