Vesper No. 9 | The Adversary | Fall-Winter 2023
James Carpenter
Ecologies of light. Ground Zero
Keywords
JCDA, Ground Zero, New York, 11 september, James
Carpenter
Sometimes the adversary becomes the enemy; it enters the city and
destroys its symbols and securities. This violence can be answered to either
with closure or by repurposing the city as a place which is open to the world.
James Carpenter’s (JCDA) contribution reflects on the design of the 7WTC,
the first building erected at Ground Zero after 9/11. In the project, the
attention to construction details, the sizing of the elements, the study of
colour and of the refraction of light become tools to offer a new ecology of
place, a cure for bodies and minds wounded by the incursion of the enemy. The
text is illustrated by detail drawings curated by The Formwork team. By
critically re-elaborating executive drawings, project variants, photographs and
mockups, these drawings document the delicate balance between security
imperatives, technological requirements and aesthetic ambitions which JCDA has
been able to create to respond to the programmatic objectives of their ethical
and creative endeavour.
contacts
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