Footage of the Twin Towers Being Built (1976)

Sep 10, 2015



A haunting glimpse into the construction of the Twin Towers in New York and their early use. The film is produced by Western Electric and, judging by its lack of sound, appears to be the raw footage for a short industrial film. Amid the course of the eerily silent scenes we see the site empty of buildings, the construction of the all too familiar girders, and panaromas of Manhattan flecked with scratches and dust.
At the time the towers were completed in the early 1970s, they were the tallest buildings in the world, with 1 World Trade Center being 1,368 feet (417 m) and 2 World Trade Center 1,362 feet (415 m). The lead architect for the project was Minoru Yamasaki (1912-1986) and construction began in August 1968. The towers were destroyed in the September 11 attacks of 2001 in which almost 3000 people lost their lives.