# The new World Trade Center **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943 "2003-02-27T18:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Llardball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/1 "2003-02-27T18:50:03Z")
I was reading an article on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) about the new plan for a 1,776 foot tall building to replace the old World Trade Center towers. Now, as I was reading, I saw that the architect has calculated the arc of the sun so that on every September 11, between 8:46 a.m. and 10:28 a.m. (the times that the two planes hit), the buildings will cast no shadow. Now, someone explain to me how anything that tall, at that degree of latitude, can produce no shadow. I mean in New York? How does this work? Link to the article: [http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/27/wtc.architect/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/02/27/wtc.architect/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/2 "2003-02-27T18:56:44Z")
I think they won’t put a shadow on the memorial pit-thing. I’m almost positive I read this just last night. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/3 "2003-02-27T18:57:52Z")
I see where that’s what he claims. I still say it’s poppycock. If he wants to claim that through some optical illusion the buildings do not _appear_ to cast a shadow, fine. But unless they are vampire buildings, they will cast shadows. Furthermore, I doubt that the times for whatever this “effect” will be cannot be predicted that accurately. The exact location of the sun in the sky on September 11 each year will vary slightly. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have to have leap years. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/4 "2003-02-27T18:58:24Z")
I got the idea from the article that it specifically referred to the memorial site, that the buildings would not cast a shadow on the memorial site only during those times. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/5 "2003-02-27T18:59:15Z")
" To commemorate those lost lives, I created two large public places, the Park of Heroes and the Wedge of Light. Each year on September 11th between the hours of 8:46 a.m., when the first airplane hit and 10:28 a.m., when the second tower collapsed, the sun will shine without shadow, in perpetual tribute to altruism and courage. " [http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/press/](http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/press/) ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/6 "2003-02-27T19:00:53Z")
Oh, yes: Google, dude, Google. First hit on “Libeskind shadow”, dude. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/7 "2003-02-27T20:09:25Z")
The selection report says: > [@](#): > > Two grand spaces form entrances to the site. On the east, the Wedge of Light creates a piazza along Fulton Street from the St. Paul’ s churchyard to the entrance to the Interpretative Museum, a space within which no shadow will fall each year on September 11 th from 8:46 a.m., the time when the first tower was struck, to 10:28 a.m., the time when the second tower fell. The Fulton corridor reopens west of the Museum as the Park of Heroes, another major new open space. [Slide from the original presentation showing the layout](http://www.lowermanhattan.info/rebuild/new_design_plans/firm_d/slides/slide5.asp) The confusion seems to stem from the second sentence in **Cardinal’s** quote from the site. It looks like it can stand-alone, but it really only applies in the context of the previous sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/8 "2003-02-27T20:09:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Furthermore, I doubt that the times for whatever this “effect” will be cannot be predicted that accurately. The exact location of the sun in the sky on September 11 each year will vary slightly. If it didn’t, we wouldn’t have to have leap years. Well, if the folks who built [Newgrange](http://www.knowth.com/newgrange.htm) could figure out how to do something similar 5,200 years ago, I have no doubt that it’s possible today. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/9 "2003-02-27T20:24:48Z")
Here is the sun position data for 8:40 AM (closest I could get) from New York City for the next 6 years. That’s a 0.3 degree range which doesn’t seem like a problem. In the next ten minutes, it only moves about 2.3 degrees. So the shadow would still generally fall in the correct place within about a minute of the proper time. ```auto Altitude Azimuth 2003 33.8 116.7 2004 33.7 117.0 2005 33.7 116.9 2006 33.8 116.8 2007 33.8 116.8 2008 33.7 117.0 ``` ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/10 "2003-02-27T20:34:31Z")
I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/11 "2003-02-27T21:40:58Z")
1,776 feet. Cool number! How tall is this in relation to other buildings and structures like the Stratosphere in Las Vegas? Seems T-A-L-L. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/12 "2003-02-27T21:43:12Z")
It would be the new record-holder, B&I. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/13 "2003-02-27T23:06:35Z")
Does the “no shadow” info explain the odd formation/slant of the roof of the building(s)? ---
**Author:** ![aeropl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f05b48/32.png) [@aeropl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aeropl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/14 "2003-02-27T23:45:41Z")
Does the building being 1776 feet high have anything to do with that year in history? As in the Declaration of Independence being signed? Sorry if this is obvious. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/15 "2003-02-27T23:57:43Z")
> [@](#): > > It would be the new record-holder, B&I. According to [this article](http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/02/27/1046064154260.html), it won’t be the tallest for very long. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-new-world-trade-center/157943/16 "2003-02-27T23:59:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by aeropl \* > \*\*Does the building being 1776 feet high have anything to do with that year in history? As in the Declaration of Independence being signed? Sorry if this is obvious. \*\* That is exactly what the height represents.