Ground Zero is currently under construction with several projects underway to rebuild the World Trade Center site. One World Trade Center is nearing completion and will be the tallest building in the US once finished. An 8-acre memorial is also being built to honor those who lost their lives on 9/11, with the memorial plaza nearing completion for the 10th anniversary of the attacks in 2011. While work is visible above ground, much of the construction has occurred below ground, including a 700,000 square foot basement and infrastructure. There were many stakeholders with differing visions that led to delays in reaching a consensus on the redevelopment plans.

1. PLACES
INEW YORK
NINE YEARS
AFTER 9/11
Dopo nove anni e tante polemiche,
andiamo a vedere a che punto sono
i lavori per far rivivere Ground
Zero. In compagnia delle opere di
Bettina Werner, artista italiana da
tempo residente a New York, che ha
interpretato l’essenza del luogo con il
suo materiale preferito: il sale.
BY MARINA CARMINATI | B2 UPPER INTERMEDIATE
26 twenty-six

2. GLOSSARY
S
eptember 11th is a dark day for Amer- mer it hosted1 a remarkable exhibition. 1 it hosted: ha ospitato
icans and this year, which marks the “Salt Queen” Bettina Werner, an Italian 2 keen: entusiasta
ninth anniversary of the terrorist at- artist who has lived in New York for many
GROUND ZERO
tacks on the World Trade Center, will be years, used a gallery space on the 49th
1 under way: in corso
no exception. Next year, the tenth anniver- floor (the building has 52) for her retro- 2 below ground: sotto
sary, will be even worse. And yet Septem- spective. The exhibition title was “Salt Rises terra
ber 2011 should see the inauguration of Above the Sky: 25 years of Unique Salt Art- 3 fence: recinto
4 wrapped: coperto,
the memorial plaza (see interview below) works.” avvolto
at the site of the attacks. Ms. Werner was naturally keen2 to pay 5 had a stake: avevano
Ground Zero is currently under construc- homage to the victims of 9/11 and this she degli interessi
personali
tion, but one new building, 7 World Trade did with one work in particular: “Preserving 6 developer:
Center, opened in 2006. Earlier this sum- with Salt the Eternal Light of their Souls.” costruttore
TRACK 7
SPEAKER MARK WORDEN
C1 ADVANCED
INTERVIEW
GROUND ZERO
N ine years ago this month one of the
most traumatic events in modern
history took place: the 9/11 attacks on
the World Trade Center in New York. But
what will replace the famous Twin Towers
at Ground Zero? In order to find out, we
met with Steve Coleman (right), who is a
spokesperson for the New York and New being done below ground2 and at street
Jersey Port Authority: level and, with the construction fence3
that we to have around the project,
Steve Coleman to protect workers and tourists, (it’s)
(Standard American accent) di cult to see inside the site, other than
the One World Trade Center, which is
Currently we have several projects that obviously 32 floors above street level,
are under way1 to rebuild the World but we’ve built a 700,000 square-foot
Trade Center site. Currently under (65m2) basement for a good portion of
construction is One World Trade Center, the site, which is basically the size of a
which will be the 1776 feet (541m) tower, large o ce tower here in Manhattan, so
that’ll be the biggest building on the it’s a lot of space that’s been built below `GLOSSARY
Below: Bettina Werner’s
site and, once it’s completed, it’ll be the ground. The Memorial Plaza is primarily We the People.
tallest tower in the United States. We’re a street level plaza, so it’s di cult to see Opposite page: the artist
surveys Ground Zero
also building an 8-acre memorial to over a construction fence. Two years from the 49th floor of
those who lost their lives on September ago we started a new website called 7 World Trade Center,
11th, and the plaza level, which is on www.wtcprogress.com, where we have where she recently
street level, for that memorial, is nearing updated construction photos going on staged a retrospective
exhibition of her work.
completion and will be completed and on a regular basis, to try to keep people
opened in time for the tenth anniversary, informed about what’s going on behind
© Gordon Eriksen Courtesy The Salt Queen Foundation, New York
which is next September 11th, in 2011. the fence, and we’ve also wrapped4 the
fence that surrounds the site with giant
SECRECY? panels that we update on a regular basis,
Many observers believe that the Ground to kind of show you the type of work
Zero site is surrounded in secrecy. We put that’s going on behind the fence, so that
this to Steve Coleman: tourists that do come to the site can see
what we’re going back there.
Steve Coleman
I don’t think there’s a lot of secrecy. I WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
think what people don’t understand is But he did admit that there have been quite
that a lot of the work we’ve done so far is a few delays in the building projects:
twenty-seven 27

3. PLACES NEW YORK
TRACK 7
INTERVIEWEE STEVE COLEMAN
C1 ADVANCED
GLOSSARY
Steve Coleman 5 had a stake: avevano
I think the biggest reason why it took it’s going to take to get built, you know, degli interessi
so long was that a lot of people had we’ve seen some pretty tremendous personali
6 developer:
a stake5 in what was going to be built progress. A lot of the work that’s gone costruttore
there. You had family members who on for the past couple of years has been
lost loved ones that had a stake, you below-ground work, where we’ve had to THE SALT QUEEN
1 staged: allestito
know, you had elected o cials who had build out a memorial museum, we’ve had 2 I found magic
ideas about what was going to be built to build out a basement for One World occurring: ho notato
there, and you had a developer6 who Trade Center, we’ve had to excavate the avveniva una magia
had the lease to the site, who had ideas eastern part of the site, which had never
of what he wanted to build there and it been excavated before, that was basically,
took a long time to reach consensus as you know, a street level plaza before 9/11.
to exactly what the site would look like So it’s been a lot of work that’s gone on
when it was rebuilt. You know, once that in the past two to three years, to work on
consensus was reached and especially areas of the site that are at street level, or
in the last two to three years, once we’ve below street level, which is why people
determined who’s going to build what, probably haven’t seen much until the
who’s going to pay for it and how long tower started to rise above the fence.
iTHE SALT QUEEN
Bettina Werner (pictured right, at 7 World Trade
Center) is known as “the Salt Queen” for the simple
reason that she works primarily with salt. She was
born in Italy and studied at the Brera Academy
of Fine Art in Milan. And yet, like many artists,
she chose to live in New York, where she recently
staged1 a retrospective of her 25-year career.
As for creating pictures from salt, she says: “When I
began incorporating salt into my paintings I found
magic occurring2 in each single crystal, and it
seemed to pronounce their essence exponentially. “
For more on her work, go to:
www.bettina-werner.com
© Gordon Eriksen Courtesy The Salt Queen Foundation, New York
Right: Preserving
with Salt the
Eternal Light of
their Souls, Bettina
Werner’s homage
to the victims
of 9/11. Above
right: the artist
at 7 World Trade
Center.
28 twenty-eight