David Childs, the main architect of the skyscraper of One World Trade Center that left the site where the Twin Towers collapsed in New York City during the September 11 attacks, died. He was 83 years old.
Childs died Wednesday in Pelham, New York, by Lewy Body Dementia, who had been diagnosed in September, said his son, Nicholas Childs.
While it was perhaps better known for his work at One World Trade Center, considered as The tallest building in the Western hemisphere, Childs was also instrumental in other important projects, including a new master plan for the National Shopping Center in Washington, DC, an expansion of the Dulles International Airport in Virginia and building 7 World Trade Center in Manhattan, according to its signature, Skidmore, Owings, Owings, Owings. AND Merrill
“David’s contribution to the company was extensive and deep, and we will always be grateful to David for his leadership, his impact and his friendship,” Skidmore, Owings AND Merrill said in a statement. “We will miss it a lot and extend our condolences and deeper sympathies to his family.”
A good memory that Nicholas Childs has was when his father drew a representation of what the property of One World Trade Center would be like they had lunch in New York, some years after September 11, but long before the plans ended.
“He picked up a paper napkin, took out a pen and took out what became the final design of the building in the napkin for me,” said Nicholas Childs in a telephone interview on Friday, and added that he still has the drawing.
He said his father was a civic mentality architect who often used an appointment for the German American architect of the twentieth century Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: “God is in the details.”
“He cared deeply about those details and doing something beautiful,” said Nicholas Childs. “But I also wanted to make sure, like any great architect, that it was a balance and function balance, which worked for people.”
The One World Trade Center of 1,776 feet high (540 meters high), once known as the Torre de la Libertad, is the central piece of the remodeling of the Zero zone, along with the commemorative pools placed where the twin towers were located. Inaugurated in 2014, it looks a steel and glass structure that rises to the sky with a conical body of eight triangles, covered by a 408 -foot height needle (124 meters).
The final design occurred after controversial negotiations between Childs and Daniel Libeskind, who designed the general plan for the site, and arguments between government officials about what should be built in the zero zone and objections of some relatives of victims of September 11 to the design of the monument to the Trade Center.
Libeskind had drawn the first construction plans, a twisted glass skyscraper with a needle outside the center destined to invoke the statue of freedom.
Childs produced a more elegant version of Libeskind’s design, then rework it after the police expressed concern that the building was not resistant enough to resist a truck bomb.
When announcing the new design plans, Childs said the One World Trade Center tower is “simple and pure in its form, a memorable way that will demand the resistance and spirit of our democracy.”
It also called it “the safest building in the world”, with features that include broader stairs, a separate ladder and elevator for firefighters, “explosion resistant glaze” and more public stairs with direct access to the street.
Childs was born in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1941 and grew in his first years of childhood in Washington, DC, before moving to Mount Kisco, New York. He attended the Private Academy oferfield in Deerfield, Massachusetts, before going to Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he obtained a degree and a master’s degree in architecture.
He was hired by Skidmore, Owings AND Merrill in 1971 by his Washington office, DC, where he worked on projects that include a new master plan for the National Mall, Constitution Gardens Park throughout the mall and the Four Seasons hotel.
He was transferred to the New York City Office of the firm in 1984 and had a hand in significant projects in the city, including 1 World Plaza in the Hell’s Kitchen section in Manhattan and Deutsche Bank Center, previously called The Time Warner Center, with their twin links in Columbus Circle.
Childs also worked at the United States Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, the development of Wharf Canary in London and King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
In 2004, he was honored with a Rome Architecture Award, awarded by the American Academy of Rome for innovative work in arts and humanities.
Childs survives his wife, Annie; three children, Nicholas, Joshua and Jocelyn; and several grandchildren.
The family is planning a small private monument in the coming weeks, followed by a larger service around May, said Nicholas Childs.
