The iconic twin towers of New York City’s World Trade Center were a triumph of human imagination and will. Completed in 1973, the towers stood at 110 stories each, accommodating 50,000 workers and 200,000 daily visitors in a 10 million square foot space. They were the hub of the bustling Financial District, a top tourist attraction and a symbol of America’s steadfast devotion to progress and the future. On September 11, 2001, the Center became the target of a massive terrorist attack that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people. The disaster also radically altered the city’s skyline, destroying the twin columns of glass and steel that over the years had come to embody New York itself.

On the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, this exhibition looks back at the World Trade Center’s construction, destruction and slow reemergence through 50 hand-selected photographs from the archives of The Associated Press.