Our proposal is to reconnect the city by creating a dense grid of vertical structures that support multiple strata of public and cultural spaces. Our vision is one that moves beyond the historical drive to build high only in order to maximize the limited resource of land, it is one that builds to multiply that very resource for the greater public. Our proposal covers 16 acres, and in turn, returns those 16 acres twice, by providing within its various horizontal strata, 16 acres of sky gardens and an additional 16 acres of cultural space.

We believe that the future of the global city must provide substantive solutions for increasingly densified space; space for public, space for culture and the vitality of commerce that will support those resources and needs. In our proposal, the legible icons are the striations of space, rather than commercial structures. The main idea is that the architecture supports public and cultural space, the specific shapes are works in progress. All buildings are shaped for the greatest public good, each dynamically enhances views, connections, light, and seeks to lessen the impact of wind and sound.

Our proposal reaches beyond the historical exchange of equal commerce for equal land. It doubles the return in our quest for quality of environment. And in turn gives Lower Manhattan a larger expanse of square footage dedicated to cultural activity than the sum of all the city's existing cultural spaces. It does this with the greatest efficiency, economically and environmentally. It provides for more than adequate retail and commercial space and does so by creating betterment for the public good. It also provides sites for an international memorial competition. Together the green spaces at the various public strata act as natural systems promoting the exchange of carbon for oxygen. The program as a whole, by virtue of its water feature, is self-reliant, recycling the precious resources of water as well as functioning as heat exchanger diminishing energy costs throughout the project as well as moving beyond "sustainability" and will be a power contributor to the city. This is a paradigm for the future, and has never really been done on this scale before.

At the very top is the final public stratum, a horizontal plateau elevated above the skyline providing a "Trans-horizon" for the resurrected global city. It is a real space that extends itself horizontally rather than vertically and symbolically reaches beyond the confines of the city to all the surrounding horizons. At this vertical plateau the buildings act together both as a public space for contemplation and observation, and as an interactive transmitter and receiver for communication, information and media exchange. They respond to our most recent technological and economic imperatives to produce continuity and networks culturally, environmentally and economically, all at both global and local levels.

As such, we present our proposal as a design for new horizons built on elevating the public good above the ruins of tragedy.