By Melissa Warnke '04

David Childs '59 is the senior partner and former chairman at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill. His firm has been chosen to design buildings to replace the World Trade Center as well as the new Deerfield Science, Math and Technology Center.

Scroll: I hear that you've been designated to design buildings to replace the World Trade Center. How do you feel about this responsibility?

David Childs: Well, a little scared, because it's such an important assignment, but also very glad because, working in the area, you feel the trauma of the disaster. Many of our people were looking out the window only two blocks away and saw the plane hit, so working on the problem is therapeutic. You feel part of the positive aspect, of trying to build, or propose something to be built, that is more responsive to urban life. The old buildings created for a very cold, empty plaza, not people-friendly at all, so the opportunity of doing something with better architecture, which can make it a more pleasant space to be in, is actually a positive.

Scroll: Have you thought about the structure at all, and what it will look like?

DC: As an architect, you try to force yourself not to draw your immediate impressions. There will be so many different programmatic inputs that you have to be cautious about not coming up with a preconceived plan. I'm really working hard now, and trying to understand the process of design, and who my client will be from the public side. It's owned by the Port Authority now, but the governor and the mayor have announced a new authority to carry out the plans. Also I have to understand the desires of my client, the man who owns the lease-hold interest, and [to coordinate] what program, over what schedule. I certainly won't do the tallest building in the world here, and I certainly won't do a twin tower, but there is an opportunity to look at a very different kind of massing. I do think there ought to be a tall building in the final design, to stand proud in our downtown. Of course, the most important aspect of the sixteen acres will be the memorial, and that's the part that people will gravitate to, and want to have the most input with. I believe that something this big should not be designed by one person, or one firm. The memorial, quite probably, should be a competition design, for everyone! You yourself could enter. I think that variety is important to the ventural scale of the project.

Scroll: What were you thinking about in terms of design for thememorial? You mentioned that it would be a collaboration?

DC: I personally believe that the two one-acre sites, which were the footprints of the towers themselves, should be considered sacred ground, that nothing should be on those sites. Now, maybe the memorial should be much bigger than that, but I don't believe, as some do, that the whole site should be a memorial. I think we need to rebuild, and put back there the mixture of commerce and housing, as well as retail and hotels. But certainly those two plots should be considered sacred ground all the way down to China. It ought to be set aside, as a sanctuary or memorial area.

Scroll: Will there be an overlap in construction of the building to replace the World Trace Center, and the Deerfield Math and Science Center?

DC: It will take a long time to excavate, and finish clearing the site. Then there will be design time and public review. Probably, there will be very little overlap. Maybe in design, but not in construction. The math building will be up and running well before the World Trade Center space.

Scroll: What message do you think we're sending to other countries by rebuilding on this space? Is that a message we should all be proud of?

DC: Yes, I do believe we should rebuild. Many cities in the Second World War were terribly bombed out, throughout Europe, and even in London. They didn't just leave those empty scars forever. They went back and rebuilt, in a way which they felt was symbolic of the future. We should not build buildings in bunkers because we're scared, and we shouldn't build buildings which are historic. It would be a mistake to build something for our future, in which we can only see our past. Years from now, people should see that we rose to the occasion. I feel proud of this, as long as we can properly commemorate the thousands of people who died here. The rest of it should be rich and lively; a place that people want to come to. I want it to say, "We came back. We rose again."

Scroll: Do you feel that there will be room made for high security around this building?

DC: Yes, I'm sure there will be. I would feel very upset, however, if our democracy, which depends upon people's freedom of movement, were suddenly shut down. If there are walls, and no cards, and police barracks it would be terrible. There will be that pressure. We've got to fight that. There are risks of modern day life that one can't avoid. In Washington, they are planning to close off a section of Pennsylvania Avenue permanently, through a tunnel.

Scroll: It seems that will give the terrorists what they want.

DC: The #1 target in the United States now is the New York Stock Exchange, which I'm also working on. It's a big challenge and a tough question [to find a medium].