One World Trade Centre
ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER is the crown of the complex of buildings in lower Manhattan where the Twin Towers once stood that were destroyed by the terrorists on September 11/2001. 1 WTC is also known as FREEDOM TOWER. It is the tallest skyscraper in the western hemisphere and the fifth tallest in the world.
In April of 2014, a couple of friends, Karen and I made a pilgrimage to the 1WTC and saw the building and the two square memorial fountains which are placed exactly in the location where the Twin Towers once stood. The names of the people who perished on “9/11” are inscribed around these downward falling fountains. Visiting the place brought back many memories of the Twin Towers from my years of living in the New York City (’77-’80).
One morning, on the way to the gallery where I worked in the SOHO district, we saw a ‘wall walker’ climbing outside the whole 110 stories of the Twin Towers. This adventure earned the climber at the top a glass of champagne from the NYPD before arresting him.
Karen and I had taken many of our guests including Karen’s parents (my in-laws), to the Twin Towers for the view from the top and a dinner in the 110thfloor restaurant. My friend, Duane, said “it was like eating a dinner in a helicopter”. My friend, Rick, from Albuquerque used to work in that 110thstory restaurant.
In 2003 Karen, our daughters, Jessics and Emalie and I, had visited the ground zero, the excavated site, the biggest hole I had ever seen in Manhattan! All those memories plus visiting the brand new building (like a wedge in the sky) and the fountains (which are visible in the painting at the lower right corner) inspired me to paint this painting, which took me almost a whole year to paint.