David Childs, architect behind One World Trade Center, dies at 83
(L) Credit: Silverstein Properties, (R) Credit: Phil Doby on Flickr
Visionary architect David Childs, who helped redefine the New York City skyline with the design of One World Trade Center, passed away at 83 on Thursday. Childs, the only partner to serve two terms as chairman of the renowned architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), succumbed to Lewy body dementia, his wife Annie told the New York Times. Best known for his work on the Freedom Tower, Childs also contributed to several other transformative projects in Manhattan, including 35 Hudson Yards, the Time Warner Center, and 7 World Trade Center.
Childs was born in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 1, 1941, and grew up in Mount Cisco, New York. While studying Zoology at Yale University, he was inspired by a lecture by architectural historian Vincent Scully, which led him to switch his focus to architecture.
After graduating from Yale in 1967 with a master’s degree in architecture, Childs joined a presidential commission in Washington aimed at revitalizing dilapidated Pennsylvania Avenue into a ceremonial boulevard. It was there that he met Nathaniel A. Owings, a founding partner of SOM, as reported by the Times.
In 1971, Owings hired Childs to open a Washington office for SOM. During this time, he worked on Constitution Gardens, a serene 50-acre park located along the National Mall just north of the Reflecting Pool.
Following a move to NYC in 1984, Childs made headway with his first major project in the Big Apple: a 47-story office tower at 1 Worldwide Plaza. Completed in 1989, the structure exemplified a decorative postmodern style, featuring a brick facade and multiple setbacks.
He also worked on the Deutsche Bank Center at Columbus Circle, formerly known as the Time Warner Center. Originally designed with a postmodern aesthetic, the long-delayed project was substantially redesigned by Childs in 2000 after it was taken over by a new developer. His redesign featured two 55-story, parallelogram-shaped skyscrapers encased in glass, which opened in 2003.
One of Childs’ most ambitious projects was the expansion of Pennsylvania Station into the James A. Farley Post Office, located directly across Eighth Avenue. Backed by Sen. Daniel Moynihan, a mentor to Childs, the plan called for constructing a two-block-wide, 150-foot-high concave glass canopy over the entrance to a new four-level passenger concourse, according to the Times. The Moynihan Train Hall, a scaled-down version of the concourse, was opened in 2021.
In July 2001, just two months before 9/11, developer Larry Silverstein hired Childs to design renovation plans for the Twin Towers, originally designed by Minoru Yamasaki. After the attacks, Silverstein asked Childs to rebuild the towers. However, Childs declined the offer to design all of the towers, stating that “architectural diversity” was important to the site.
He did begin work on replacing 7 World Trade Center, which was completed in 2006. The new building features a “crystalline parallelogram” design, with precise details and reopened views along Greenwich Street, which had previously been blocked by the original structure.
One World Trade Center, widely regarded as Childs’ career-defining project, followed a lengthy and controversial design process that spanned five iterations before being finalized. Silverstein found himself caught in a public dispute with the Port Authority, which was also in negotiations with the City of New York, while Childs was at odds with architect Daniel Libeskind, whom state officials had appointed as the master planner for the site.
Libeskind proposed a tower with a height of 1,776 feet, though Silverstein reportedly never intended to build it. The developer enlisted Childs to create alternative designs, including a 2,000-foot tower, which was ultimately rejected by the city’s Police Department in April 2005 due to security concerns, according to the Times.
Additionally, in 2004, architect Thomas Shine sued Childs and SOM, claiming that the design for the new World Trade Center was stolen from his graduate work at Yale—work that would have been known to Childs during his time critiquing student projects. Childs and SOM denied the accusations, and the suit was settled in 2006.
The final design of the building, almost entirely crafted by Childs, stands at 1,368 feet, matching the height of the original One World Trade Center. The 408-foot mast at its top brings the official height to 1,776 feet, paying homage to Libeskind’s original proposal.
Completed in 2014 as the tallest building in the northern hemisphere, the Freedom Tower filled a gap in the skyline and symbolized resilience in the face of tragedy. Childs saw the building as a memorial to the infamous event: “It subtly recalls, in the sky, the tragedy that has happened here,” he told the Times in 2005.
Throughout his career, Childs was renowned for his versatility, avoiding a signature style and instead focusing on the unique context of each project.
“I know a lot of what I’ve designed is not ‘A’ work,” he told the Times. “But my role was different. I wanted to raise the level of everyday development as much as I could.”
Other projects designed by Childs include 35 Hudson Yards, completed in 2019; 383 Madison Avenue, finished in 2001; and 1540 Broadway in Times Square, which opened in 1990.
“David was a key figure in New York architecture for his talents and generosity as a designer and citizen,” Carol Willis, founder and director of The Skyscraper Museum, said.
“In a project as big as Ground Zero rebuilding and as small as The Skyscraper Museum, his actions made plans into reality.”
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