Sixteen Acres: Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero

by Philip Nobel

"Quirky, discursive, and highly opinionated"--a frank and devastating assessment of architecture and the rebuilding at Ground Zero (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times )

Maverick architecture critic Philip Nobel takes us deep into the inner workings of Ground Zero, tracing the redevelopment of this battleground construction site from smoke-shrouded ruin to controversial master plan. Nobel gathers the huge cast of players at war with one real estate developers; grieving families; ambitious politicians; and most of all the architects, in the national spotlight as never before, charged with satisfying impossible demands and reconciling a sacred zone with daily life.
By turns tragic and comic, Sixteen Acres is a riveting story of high culture and low dealings, confronting the essential Can buildings provide meaning? Are modern architects up to the job? What are the limits of architecture?

"Estimable . . . Nobel steps in where [others] fear to tread--by making sense of the spectacle."
-- The New York Times Book Review

"Vastly preferable . . . Nobel, in refreshing contrast [to others on the subject], regards the circus-like chain of circumstances with skeptical detachment . . . and harrowing humor."
-- The New York Review of Books

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, The United States Of America, Urban Planning, New York

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Philip Nobel is the author of Sixteen Acres: Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero (Metropolitan, 2005). His column, "Far Corner," appears monthly in Metropolis magazine and he regularly writes architectural criticism for The New York Times, Vogue, Artforum, The Forward, Architectural Digest and The Nation. Philip has also appeared as a commentator on CBS and MSNBC.

Reviews

[Tristan]

Holy crap was this a useful book. I was reading it to work on my Master's paper on this very subject. So far it is the best account I can find on how the site of the World Trade Center went from rubble to what we have today. It was written before the memorial and museum were complete, but it traces up until their designs.

There is all sorts of politics, from the city to the white house. It shows how the sausage gets made when architects compete over the biggest stakes of their careers. It shows how economics, politics, and the desire to memorialize slammed into each other in the effort to build the Freedom Tower.

Definitely recommended if that interests you.

[Jen]

A good way to understand the ongoing battle for the WTC site and Pataki's influence on what will happen with the site.

[Ed]

Fascinating look at the plot of land that is a national wound, and the convergence of desires for its future use.

[Vanlilith]

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