Requiem for an American Icon: The World Trade Center got a bad rap, but it became an indelible part of the Manhattan skyline.(Horror and Heroes)(Brief Article)

To anyone who doubted the power of modern architecture to convey potent cultural messages: think again. The terrorists who obliterated the World Trade Center last week, killing thousands of the people who worked inside its soaring towers, apparently saw the building as a symbol of wealth and hubris. Almost everyone else saw in the 110-story towers more positive and complex meanings. The towers inspired awe and fascination, of course--more postcards of the World Trade Center were sent each year than of any other building in the world--and from the top, tourists could get the most spectacular, stomach-fluttering vistas in New York. The building was also emblematic of our country's deepest…