The future shape of Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, became clearer this week when designs for three new skyscrapers were unveiled. The buildings, designed by Norman Foster, Richard Rogers and Fumihiko Maki, will rise as steps towards the Freedom Tower, Daniel Libeskind's 1,776-foot building that will dominate the site.
The buildings will be grouped around a memorial to those who died on 9/11, next to a museum and performing arts centre designed by Frank Gehry. When the skyscrapers open in 2011 or 2012, they will house shops, restaurants and offices. Developing the site has been delayed by disputes over the design of the buildings and
the size of the memorial and the design of the Freedom Tower was changed earlier this year when the NYPD expressed concern about its security. Only one building on the site has been completed, an office block called 7 World Trade Center. A new visitors' centre opened next to Ground Zero this week, providing an audiovisual history of the World Trade Center, 9/11 and its victims until the memorial and museum open in 2009.