In Memoriam: David M. Childs

David M. Childs, the Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) architect best known for realizing One World Trade Center (WTC) and working with developer Larry Silverstein after 9/11 to rebuild Lower Manhattan, passed away on March 26 in Pelham, NY, outlets including the Architect’s Newspaper (AN) report. He was 83 years old. Silverstein said “no single individual was more responsible” for successfully rebuilding the WTC as Childs. A native of Princeton, New Jersey, Childs also created NYC landmarks 7 WTC, Worldwide Plaza, the New York Mercantile Exchange, the John F. Kennedy International Airport Arrivals building, the Bear Stearns (now JPMorgan Chase) headquarters (HQ) and Park Hyatt hotels. With projects all over the world, his work on NYC’s Moynihan Train Hall “marked a full circle,” the AN observed. After earning his master’s degree in architecture at Yale University in 1967, Childs moved to Washington, D.C., where he met SOM Founder Nathaniel Owings. Childs started the firm’s D.C. office and designed the masterplan for the Washington Mall and Constitutional Gardens, HQ for National Geographic and U.S. News and World Report; numerous hotels; and the expansion of Dulles Airport’s main terminal. In 1984, Childs became a senior design partner at SOM’s NYC office.