Leslie E. Robertson
Structural Engineer of the World Trade Center
New York, NY

NY Times, 11/12/01: Let's not forget that most of the buildings that are hit by airplanes are not tall buildings; they are low buildings. I'm talking about houses and buildings in small cities. Architects and engineers are not going to design buildings ó be they high-rise buildings or low-rise buildings ó for the impact of airplanes. It is not a practical thing to do.

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Cesar Pelli,
Architect of the current tallest building in the world, the twin Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The desire to reach for the sky runs deep in our human psyche.

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David M. Childs
Dean, Yale School of Architecture
New Haven, CT

NY Times, 09/30/2001: It is important to build. The skyscraper is one of the great American creations and is probably the greatest American contribution to architecture as a whole. We have always expressed our confidence through tall buildings. We are still a brash, new swaggering country, and we must still explore the imaginative possibilities of height. To bury our heads in the sand or create imaginative voids seems not appropriate.

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Witold Rybczynski
Professor of Urbanism, University of Pennsylvania
New York, NY

NY Times, 11/12/01: We're not a shy people. Skyscrapers declare that. And they declare it so that you can see it from far, far away. And they are very self-confident...Tall buildings have a huge effect on the American city. And they created a uniquely American part of the city, the downtown. American cities don't have plazas and boulevards and great palaces, but what we have is skyscrapers. It is very much the character of our cities.

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Paul Katz
Architect, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
New York, NY

NY Times, 11/12/01: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in New York, said: Our land is not as open and plentiful as it was a century ago. The building type of the 21st century is the tall building.

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Joseph J. Pallante A.I.A.
Pallante Design
Architecture & Interiors

I am an architect based in Hoboken, NJ and wanted to send my compliments to your team for your design. I have been saying since the attack happened, ìWe must rebuild them. If we do not, the terrorists will have succeeded in altering our skyline forever.î I am happy that some of my colleagues have designed what I have felt.

This should not have been turned into a re-planning and redesign event, but a way to improve the safety of the existing towers. Good luck and I hope that I see your design come to fruition.