8/20/2019 Letter From Filename: Letter from Santiago Calatrava.pdfSantiago Calatrava

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Te St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is to be rebuiltin the same block of the former Church that was destroyedduring the September 11th Attacks. Tat Church had satin the shadows of the World rade Center on a site it hadoccupied since 1916.

 A former small tavern, the Church was always an interestingcounterpoint to the skyscrapers that grew up around it.Despite many substantial offers to sell the property, theGreek community elected to maintain the Church on the

site. It was a tiny spiritual refuge set among towering and wealthy neighbors, a restful walk among the mountains.

It was no surprise that despite the horrific events of 9/11,the Greek Orthodox Church felt a duty and a strongemotional obligation to rebuild a church on the site. Likeits forebear, the new Church is to be a tiny jewel in LowerManhattan. A human-scaled presence in an ensembleof giants.

 A classic problem of downtown Manhattan is simply oneof size. o perceive the archetypal New York skyline, one isforced to leave the island and view it from a far. New York

City does not have the plethora of smaller scale buildingsthat define other great cities like London or Florence,

 which are dominated by Church spires. In Manhattanthe opposite exists. One must be small to stand out, andthe new St. Nicholas Church achieves this humanizing ofLower Manhattan.

Te new Church is principally based around a centrCupola. Tis is purposefully different from the rectilinelines of the former Church. Indeed, it hearkens back tboth the Greek classical Architecture of the Acropoland to the Byzantine Architecture of the Hagia SophiTe new Saint Nicholas will stand as both a Parthenoand Hagia Sophia for the Greek Orthodox CommunityIt will be a symbol of the resilience of New York Citand the American spirit. ruly, Saint Nicholas will bemonument of the human spirit, pointing to the divin

 within us all.

 With warmest regards,

Santiago Calatrava 

 A Monument to the Human and Divine

September 11, 2013