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Retractable Skylight in World Trade Center Oculus Will Open Every September 11th

Santiago Calatrava is a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter.  He is the man behind the design of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub with a budget of $4 billion, initially.  That being said it was over budget and a little late on schedule.  In 2008, Calatrava's plan to create a movable structure that would unfurl the "wings" of the Bird in Flight on the central Oculus was stopped because of budget concerns. But on Friday morning, a 5,700-pound glass panel was hoisted put in place as a 355-foot-long operable skylight took form in the Oculus pavilion of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub.  Those were among the last of 996 pieces of blast-resistant glass to have been added since March 15.  The winged Oculus is by far the most eye-catching structure in the transportation hub with its completion taking up almost a decade. The glazing was targeted to finish this Monday as said by Steven Plate, the director of World Trade Center construction for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which is building the rail, subway and shopping hub.

It was reported that the skylight will not be opened on just any regular sunny day as it will have deeply emblematic function.  It will be opened each September 11th for 102 minutes according to the Spokesperson of the The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Erica Dumas.  She also mentioned that that is how long the 2001 terrorist attack lasted from the first jet liner to hit the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. until the tower collapsed at 10:28 a.m., killing 2,573 people in the building, on the ground and in the hijacked plane. 

On the other hand, Mr. Calatrava had said on Friday of the annual remembrance, "(Every September 11)In all weather conditions, the public will experience a subtle sense of man's vulnerability, while maintaining a link to a higher order,"


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