WTC Building details, window, plans, etc

[rachel]

World Trade Center blueprint: Twin Towers poster, Architectural print New York skyscraper 9-11 architect gift architecture art Centre, photo

[rachel]

Allan Wexler suggests cleaners turning lights on and off to create pattern, but was the effect really done by legwork and not relay? I can't imagine it actually being a practical solution for cleaner, since we found out from another infographic that each tower had 21,800 windows.

http://www.allanwexlerstudio.com/projec ... ade-center

Proposal for the Manhattan Skyline, World Trade Center
1973 and 1976

The year I moved to New York City, the World Trade Center was nearing completion. It was the tallest building in the world. I thought of the tower’s facades as huge blank canvases.
I am interested in simple solutions that make a big impact so I proposed the redesign of the surfaces of the towers using only the light switches, the window shades and the labor of the cleaning staff. Each evening the cleaning person consults a calendar positioned at each window of the building to determine if a light is to be left on or a window shade adjusted. ON/OFF - the binary system in operation. The illusion is that World Trade Center’s facade is sliced, dissected, rearranged, or transformed into other facades. The Empire State Building or Notre Dame can be displaced to lower Manhattan.

[rachel]

So I've references to loads of close up images of the towers, and in none of the can any detail be made out to confirm there is any activity other than lights being switched on or off going on.

All except this one.

I'll put in some details.

So I clearly wanted to know where the image came from. And here's the kicker...The only image of WTC widows that seems to show a normal type office environment inside the towers was produced specifically for a WTC Book authored by the Port Authority. This being a scan from that book.

[rachel]

I found this series of videos from a Bobby Knight, he stays in the Marriott next door. He goes up twice. The sound is not too good, but it's fascinating to get the feel of the place. It's funny, there are only certain things I remember about going. Anyway, enjoy.

World Trade Center Twin Towers NY 1-7

[xileffilex]

In part 3, do you reckon any of those lift buttons worked? Are there any videos of a punter mischievously pressing a few random buttons to see what happened and the doors opening? I bet not.

[rachel]

In part 3, do you reckon any of those lift buttons worked? Are there any videos of a punter mischievously pressing a few random buttons to see what happened and the doors opening? I bet not.

I was thinking that too, because all of those buttons don't fit with the explanation the lift operator told us. In one of the Aaron Dover videos he talks about his trip to Windows on the World. That was the same observation deck area, floor 107, when I went. It's funny I don't remember too much, but I do remember exactly how he describes the lift ride (first video from 5 minutes on).

I went a couple of years prior to the 1993 bombing, before the security they introduced then. I think we just saw the days it was open in a tourist book and rolled up and bought our tickets on the door. We waited in a queue for some time. I seemed to remember them telling us this was the special express lift away from the office lifts. There was a lift operator, and he gave us a spiel on how different lifts went to certain floors only. It's like Dover says, thinking about it, why are you telling me this? The operator then told us there was no direct lift to the top, instead we would get the lift to the sky lobby, and switch there. Basically that's what the people working in offices on higher floors did; got the lift to one of the sky lobbies, then from there, got a particular lift that served certain floors only. I remember that, because I thought, what a nightmare.

It's curious why the operator didn't say, the direct lift is not working, instead he said, there is no direct lift because the building is too tall. So they lied about there not being a direct lift on my trip and on Aaron Dover's trip. Bobby Knight goes in 1997 and gets a direct lift, I think Dover said he went in 2000.

[xileffilex]

Some testimonies about the WTC lifts/elevators on this Quora forum [usual caveats apply...]
https://www.quora.com/What-was-it-like- ... efore-9-11
where a post from Skyscraper City is re-posted. [usual caveats apply...] concerning alleged work at Marsh & McLennan atop WTC1

To get down to smoke, or really for anything else that required me to leave the building, I had to take a local elevator down to 78, then an express elevator to the lobby. .There was a cafeteria on the 43rd floor that was the Port Authority Cafeteria, and wasn't open to the public. I never got to go there. SkyDive was located on the 44th floor of 1, and served breakfast and lunch, your typical coffee shop fare. I never cared much for their lunch, but their breakfasts were amazing. To get there from an upper floor, yes, you had to go back to ground level, then take an express elevator to 44.

what, you're already at 44????
It smells like BS because he/she goes on

About 200 people worked per floor....

It continues, relating to the elevators

I usually came in at 8:00 AM, and the elevators would be filled to capacity. From the concourse level, it was about a 20 second ride to the 78th floor lobby, then another 2-3 minutes to the 99th floor, with many stops along the way. The elevators banks on 78 were broken up into the floors they served, 87-93, 94-100, 101-107. There was also an escalator that went down to 77, and an escalator up to 79.

This might be a genuine recollection, bio checks out

Roland Klee
Former Assistant Town Planner (2008–2015)2y
While a student at NYU, I had an internship for about 3 months in the winter and spring of 1978 with the Tri-State Regional Planning Commission which was located on the 82nd floor of Tower 1, the North Tower.....most of the weight of the towers was borne by the exterior walls.

Because the support columns were expected to bear most of the weight of the towers, they were spaced very close together and as a result the windows throughout the building, except on the lower floors and on the upper floors where the Windows on the World restaurant and the observatory were located, were extremely narrow, barely the width of my head, making viewing very difficult..... I took an express elevator to the 78th floor sky lobby (there was also one on the 44th floor) and then waited for the local elevator to take me the rest of the way to the offices on the 82nd floor.

I can’t speak to what other offices were like on other floors but the Tri-State offices were pretty much like the typical cubicle farms you find everywhere else. But over 40 years later, I still think it was pretty cool that I worked on the 82nd floor of one of the Twin Towers, even if only briefly.

This NASA [oh oh!] document suggests that the Tri-state planning body did have an address on the 82nd floor
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/197 ... 015538.pdf

[rachel]

Found a set of scans from a 1989 Port Authority publication. Mentions the WTC's 22 restaurants.

Page 1

p 2

p 3

p 4

p 5

p 6

p 7

p 8

[rachel]

From a quick scan of the information, this is a run down of what the brochure advertises, mostly restaurants named. Very little going on above the Mezzanine levels of the WTC Towers.

Plaza outside WTC Towers
Noontime concerts, dance, performances on Austin J Tobin Plaza.

WTC Concourse, Manhattan's largest indoor shopping mall
The Corner (Restaurant), on the Concourse.
Big Kitchen, on the Concourse.
Eat & Drink, on the Concourse.
The Market Dining Room, on the Concourse.
Currency exchange, four banks listed on the Concourse.
Over 60 stores, services and restaurants in total on the Concourse.

One WTC
Airline Ticket Center, 1 WTC Lobby.
Exhibition space and shows throughout year, 1 WTC Mezzanine.
Oval Room, 1 WTC on 43 floor.*
Skydive Restaurant, 1 WTC on 44 floor.
Cumulus Hair Stylists, 1 WTC on 44 floor.
Mimmo Hair Stylists, 1 WTC on 44 floor.
World Trade Institute & Language School, 1 WTC on 55 floor.
The Restaurant at Windows on the World, 1 WTC on 107 floor.
The Hors d'Oeurerie at Windows on the World, 1 WTC on 107 floor.

Two WTC
Courier Service Center, 2 WTC Lobby.
TKTS (half-price theater tickets), 2 WTC Mezzanine.
The Deck, 2 WTC on 107 floor.
Roof viewing platform, 2 WTC on 110 floor.

Just for completeness, from this wiki page about buildings with Sky lobbies.

1 World Trade Center (Contained two sky lobbies at the 44th and 78th floors) in New York City, New York, United States
2 World Trade Center (Contained two sky lobbies at the 44th and 78th floors) in New York City, New York, United States

Three WTC
Vista Lounge, Vista International Hotel, 3 WTC.
Tall Ships Bar, Vista International Hotel, 3 WTC, Lobby.
American Harvest, Vista International Hotel, 3 WTC, Plaza level.
Greenhouse Restaurant, Vista International Hotel, 3 WTC, Plaza level.
Meeting rooms, A-V presentations, press conferences, Vista International Hotel, 3 WTC.

Four WTC
Commodities Exchange Center Visitor's Gallery, 4 WTC on 9 floor.


*The floor number of the Oval Room at 1WTC isn't listed in the document, but I found a reference to the 43rd floor on this site, it can only be viewed as text. There were only two TWC addresses listed for bookable meeting rooms.

LOCAL SITES OFFER FACILITIES FOR NIGHTS OF THE ROUNDTABLE
Metro NY has many executive conference centers. In general, suburban centers offer guest rooms as well as recreational facilities. Most urban centers do not offer all of these amenities. Descriptions were provided by the centers...

...Oval Room,* 1 World Trade Center, 43rd floor, New York, NY 10048. Phone: (212) 435-3444. Fax: (212) 435-3330. Web site: panynj.gov. Executive conference center in the World Trade Center with panoramic river views of New York and New Jersey. Full-service audiovisual, catering, VIP room. On-site planners arrange all business and social events for up to 240 theater, 150 banquet. In the heart of the financial district...

...World Trade Institute,* 1 World Trade Center, 55th floor, New York, NY 10048. Phone: (212) 346-1177. No guest accommodations, 11 corporate meeting rooms with 100-person capacity. Full range of audiovisual equipment, including teleconferencing. Full-service conference planning and customized catering at competitive rates...

[rachel]

Was just looking through the rest of my search, found a Department of Transportation agenda listed as taking place at The Oval Room, One World Trade Center, 43rd Floor, New York, NY.

https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tea21/grote.htm

DOT Focus Group Outreach Session on New Federal Credit Programs

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) invites public officials, potential project sponsors, the financial community, and other interested parties to attend a public meeting to share comments with DOT concerning how best to administer two new Federal credit programs -- the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program and the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program -- that were authorized in the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21, Public Law 105-178).

When: Monday, September 14, 1998, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Host: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Where: The Oval Room, One World Trade Center, 43rd Floor, New York, NY

A few more references to meetings held in the Oval Room here:

Federal Register Volume 60, Number 193 (Thursday, October 5, 1995)
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR- ... -24672.htm

DOT Listening Session on National Transportation Program (October 6, 1998)
https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/tea21/nylisten.htm

98-23066. DOT Listening Session on New Federal Credit Programs (Thursday, August 27, 1998)
http://federal.elaws.us/fr/8/27/1998/98-23066

Congress Skeds Air Traffic Hearing (Monday, July 16, 2001)
https://www.rockawave.com/articles/cong ... c-hearing/