Laments of a WTC Architect
After the historic collapse of the World Trade Center, a 65-year-old Bengali architect Gopal Mitra suddenly made headlines across television channels and newspapers in India. Mitra, who worked with Minoru Yamasaki and Associates, one of the construction companies that designed the WTC structure — the other being Emery Roth and Sons — was involved in the WTC project from its conception to commissioning.
Sitting beside a miniature replica of the WTC at his office in Tollygunge, Calcutta, Mitra was aghast at the sight of his dream towers crumbling down, as news reports of the September 11 attacks unfolded on his television screen. He couldn't believe that the twin towers could
ever collapse like this.
It was Indestructible!
Mitra recalled why the construction of WTC was a major landmark in architectural engineering. Unlike any contemporary skyscraper, its walls were skin-stressed, i.e., "the walls were self-supported and did not depend on the roofs and floor to stand erect."
Later Gopal Mitra joined IIT Kharagpur, his alma mater, as professor of civil engineering, and established an architectural firm by the name of Buildcon in the early 1970s that has ever since designed, developed and promoted a number of buildings and apartments in Calcutta and New Delhi. Today, he is the Rector of Modern Academy, Calcutta and five other 'gurukuls'. The Modern Academy International, a co-educational, residential school coming up at Kosi-Kalan near New Delhi, is also the brainchild of Prof. Mitra, and has come into being because of his immense faith in the Upanishads and a great respect for the American system of education.
Sitting beside a miniature replica of the WTC at his office in Tollygunge, Calcutta, Mitra was aghast at the sight of his dream towers crumbling down, as news reports of the September 11 attacks unfolded on his television screen. He couldn't believe that the twin towers could
ever collapse like this.
It was Indestructible!
Mitra recalled why the construction of WTC was a major landmark in architectural engineering. Unlike any contemporary skyscraper, its walls were skin-stressed, i.e., "the walls were self-supported and did not depend on the roofs and floor to stand erect."
While designing the building, Mitra and his colleagues took into account every possible threat — earthquake, storm, wind and fire. None could imagine that someday, thousands of gallons of aviation fluid would be set aflame inside its belly. He is particularly regretful of the fact that the building was equipped with one of the most advanced fire-fighting mechanisms in the world, yet it was finally destroyed by fire. He told the Calcutta daily Telegraph: "When we had designed it, we had never dreamt that one day it would be the target of a terrorist attack and that it would be destroyed in this manner; life was not that complicated in those days." However, he maintained that the WTC did not collapse, rather "it was punctured, and fell apart floor by floor."
The Dream Towers!
Gopal Mitra told the Delhi Times how his tryst with the twin towers began: In 1964, after completing his masters degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan, Mitra was working with Erro Sarrinen & Associates in New York. One day, Minoru Yamasaki, the chief architect of the towers, happened to see his drawings and offered him to work for the WTC project. Soon Mitra was in Yamasaki's design team working almost 18 hours a day to lay down the plans of the building. "Then the only aim of our lives was to put together this dream project," he reminisces.
Remembering his team-members E. L. Tungsten, William Ku and Dr Killing, Mitra said that the thrill of designing the tallest building in the world made the architects overcome a whole lot of constraints. "I remember how I drew sketches of the structure over and over again till my seniors approved of it," he added. Finally, Prof. Mitra said that if he were to redesign the WTC all over again, he wouldn't change much of design, except for adding a "special protective skin" around the structure so that no flying object can damage the building.
The Dream Towers!
Gopal Mitra told the Delhi Times how his tryst with the twin towers began: In 1964, after completing his masters degree in Architecture from the University of Michigan, Mitra was working with Erro Sarrinen & Associates in New York. One day, Minoru Yamasaki, the chief architect of the towers, happened to see his drawings and offered him to work for the WTC project. Soon Mitra was in Yamasaki's design team working almost 18 hours a day to lay down the plans of the building. "Then the only aim of our lives was to put together this dream project," he reminisces.
Remembering his team-members E. L. Tungsten, William Ku and Dr Killing, Mitra said that the thrill of designing the tallest building in the world made the architects overcome a whole lot of constraints. "I remember how I drew sketches of the structure over and over again till my seniors approved of it," he added. Finally, Prof. Mitra said that if he were to redesign the WTC all over again, he wouldn't change much of design, except for adding a "special protective skin" around the structure so that no flying object can damage the building.
Later Gopal Mitra joined IIT Kharagpur, his alma mater, as professor of civil engineering, and established an architectural firm by the name of Buildcon in the early 1970s that has ever since designed, developed and promoted a number of buildings and apartments in Calcutta and New Delhi. Today, he is the Rector of Modern Academy, Calcutta and five other 'gurukuls'. The Modern Academy International, a co-educational, residential school coming up at Kosi-Kalan near New Delhi, is also the brainchild of Prof. Mitra, and has come into being because of his immense faith in the Upanishads and a great respect for the American system of education.
This article by me appeared on About.com soon after the 2001 September 11 attacks on America by the Jihadees. Reproducing it here on the 10th anniversary of the event that changed our world.
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