Two more famous architects added to WTC roll.

WTC Developer Larry Silverstein has added two more top names to the list of famous architects commissioned to redevelop Ground Zero.

Silverstein announced last week that UK architect Lord Richard Rogers and Japan's Fumihiko Maki are slated to design Towers 3 and 4 respectively. The announcement came barely a week after foundation work began on Tower 1, known as the Freedom Tower.

Rogers and Maki are the latest additions on a site teaming with world-renowned architects. The pair joins David Childs (Freedom Tower), Santiago Calatrava (WTC Transportation Hub), Michael Arad and Peter Walker (WTC Memorial), and Lord Norman Foster (200 Greenwich--a.k.a. Tower 2) as building designers within a Master Site Plan developed by Daniel Libeskind.

"It is a rare opportunity to have been appointed to design one of the new buildings on this key site in New York," said Rogers. "This will be a complex and challenging project--but one which will also help to contribute to the revitalization of New York City and which will help to inspire a new hope for the city's future."

"This is undoubtedly the most highly anticipated redevelopment project of our time," said Maki. "I am honored to have been selected to work on designing 150 Greenwich Street. I look forward to meeting the challenges that lie ahead."

The first challenge for both architects will be meeting a tough deadline set by Silverstein. Under the current timetable, design work will finish and construction work will commence in 2007 as part of Silverstein and government officials' ambitious plan to open the entire WTC site in 2012.

"Beginning with 7 World Trade Center, I made a commitment to hire the best architectural talent in the world and apply the highest standards of design to build these office towers," said WTC site developer Larry Silverstein. "Lord Rogers and Mr. Maki are universally recognized as two of the most brilliant architects in the world."

Both architects come to Ground Zero lugging hefty resumes.

Rogers, known for his futuristic-looking, technology-inspired buildings, is well established in the world of architecture, completing such high-profile projects as the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the headquarters for Lloyd's of London and the Millennium Dome in London, the National Assembly for Wales building in Cardiff, and the New Area Terminal at Barajas Airport in Madrid. Here in New York, Rogers' firm is working on the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and is part of the team redeveloping the East River Waterfront.

Maki was recipient in 1993 of the Pritzker Prize, generally considered architecture's highest honor. His designs often exhibit carefully manipulated shapes and textures and have sometimes incorporated traditional Japanese architectural theories. Maki won a competition in 2004 to design the UN temporary headquarters, scheduled for construction on First Avenue and 42nd Street.

"The selection of these architects is an important step forward in the development of the World Trade Center site and the rebuilding of the New York City skyline, the most famous in the world," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "I'm pleased these towers will be built simultaneously and that the redevelopment of the entire World Trade Center site will be completed by 2012. I'm confident, with the architecture and design team currently assembled, the buildings that rise will become icons New Yorkers will cherish for generations."

The Rogers-designed 175 Greenwich Street (Tower 3) building will be bounded by Dey Street to the north, Cortlandt Street to the south, Church Street to the east, and a re-introduced Greenwich Street to the west. It will include 2 million s/f of office space.

The Maki-designed 150 Greenwich Street (Tower 4) will be bounded by Cortlandt Street to the north, Liberty Street to the south, Church Street to the east, and the re-introduced Greenwich Street to the west. The building will contain 1.8 million s/f of office space.

Both towers also will accommodate approximately five floors of retail space at and above street level and as part of an underground concourse linking to the WTC Transportation Hub.

Work on the Calatrava-designed Transportation hub began in fall of 2005.