One World Trade Center: Biography of the Building

Anyone who sought to fill the great void left on the site of the former World Trade Center faced an uphill battle, the greatest challenge of which may have been to satisfy public opinion. One World Trade Center (OWTC), a building known mainly for its long conception and realization, is herein given an in-depth survey by Dupré (Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Extraordinary Buildings). Like her previous title, this is more than a big picture book. The author makes good use of the access she had to all of the players in the story of OWTC's ten-year construction. She conducted more than 70 interviews with subjects such as architects David Childs and Santiago Calatrava. Although she shows respect and admiration for the principals in the project, Dupré does address the personal and political clashes that contributed to the work's slow gestation (for more about that drama, see Elizabeth Greenspan's Battle for Ground Zero: Inside the Political Struggle To Rebuild the World Trade Center).