Dezeen Wire: Dutch architects MVRDV have received threatening emails and angry phone calls after revealing proposals for skyscrapers that resemble the exploding World Trade Centre on 9/11.
We published the project first on Dezeen, prompting outrage from many of our readers. One declared the images “insensitive and offensive” while another claimed “this is like 9/11 freeze framed”.
Above: The Cloud by MVRDV – see more images in our earlier story
In an article titled “Do These Skyscrapers Remind You Of The 9/11 Attacks?” online magazine Fast Co. Design used Dezeen’s reader comments to explain the story, while gadget blog Gizmodo Australia led a piece with the question “What The Hell Were These Architects Thinking?”
In an official statement on their Facebook page, MVRDV apologise for any upset cause and explain that they did not see the resemblance during the design process. However, Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad claims that MVRDV representative Jan Knikker admitted that they in fact did notice, fuelling the debate further.
Most recently, American magazine the New York Post have picked up the story, blasting the towers as “sick” and “a spectacular case of architectural tastelessness” and the BBC reported the story in their televised news program.
You can see all the original images here, or contribute to the debate by adding a comment here.
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