Twin apartment buildings designed by a Dutch architectural firm are seen in this undated computer illustration photo released by Yongsan Development Co. The firm has apologized for its design of twin skyscrapers in central Seoul which resemble the exploding World Trade Center towers in New York and have infuriated families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks.
Photograph by: Yongsan Development Co/Handout, Reuters
SEOUL — A South Korean developer said Monday it would not alter the design of a twin-tower project despite complaints in the United States that it mimics the explosions at New York's World Trade Center in 2001.
The towers, one with 54 floors and the other with 60, are designed by Dutch architects MVRDV and will be built at the entrance to Seoul's redeveloped Yongsan business district by 2016.
The towers will be connected midway up by a cloud-shaped bridging section that will house amenities including sky lounges, a swimming pool and restaurants.
But families of victims of the 9/11 attacks see a marked resemblance between the project known as The Cloud and the clouds of debris that billowed from the World Trade Center after hijacked airliners ploughed into the towers.
"Allegations that it (the design) was inspired by the 9/11 attacks are groundless," said White Paik, spokesman for the Yongsan Development Corp.
"There will be no revision or change in our project," he told AFP, adding that construction would begin in January 2013 as scheduled.
MVRDV said it "regrets deeply" any painful connotations.
"It was not our intention to create an image resembling the attacks nor did we see the resemblance during the design process," it said in a statement on its website.
"We sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings we have hurt," it added.
Jim Riches, a retired New York deputy fire chief whose son was killed on 9/11, said he did not believe the architects.
"It looks just like the towers imploding," the New York Daily News quoted him as saying. "I think they're trying to sensationalise it. It's a cheap way to get publicity."
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