The Oculus was positioned as part of the World Trade Center masterplan by Daniel Libeskind and designed by Santiago Calatrava. The structure’s white metal-clad steel ribs reach up and out in a monumental move symbolic of a hand releasing a dove.

The structure’s orientation serves as a lasting reminder of the attacks of September 11, 2001. It is in alignment with the sun’s solar angles on each September 11, from 8:46 am, when the first plane struck, until 10:28 am, when the second tower collapsed. Its central skylight fits this alignment and washes the Oculus floor with a beam of light.”

• designed January 2004
• finished and inaugurated on March 3, 2016
• 350 feeet long
• over 160 feet high
• owned and operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• $4 billion
• “the most expensive train station in the world and the third largest transportation center in New York, after Grand Central and Penn Station, both in Midtown Manhattan” at the time
• the “Path” hub
• 12 subway lines come and leave
• houses dozens of retail stores for shopping, dining,and events
• over 1 million people a week
• 13,000 lighting fixtures
• pictured by  Santiago Calatrav, its designer, “as the image of a bird freed from the hands of a child.”
• “September 11th marks a very important day for the Oculus. The day is honored by American flags hanging from the roof. What’s also special on this day is that the retractable skylight opens for two hours on the anniversary of 9/11. Removing the glass ceiling allows light to flood the main hall of the Oculus. The structure was specifically positioned for the sun to line up with the ceiling passage at the exact moment the second twin tower fell.”
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