Second architect may help at WTC

The real estate developer who leases the World Trade Center site does not want architect Daniel Libeskind designing its new buildings alone, and plans to hire his own architect to create the 1,776-foot “Freedom Tower” that is going to be the first structure built at ground zero.

The Berlin-based Libeskind won a competition earlier this year with his plan for rebuilding the 16-acre site. Larry A. Silverstein, who became the World Trade Center’s landlord less than two months before it was destroyed, says he will follow the overall site plan Libeskind laid out, but he wants an architect more experienced in high-rise construction to design the buildings.

Libeskind said Friday that he is open to collaboration, given Silverstein’s assurances that he will be “meaningfully involved” in the design. He disputed that his not having built a skyscraper before should be a factor. “Architecture is architecture; I don’t make the distinction.”