He taught readers that they deserve beauty and meaning and must demand it in their cities. He taught me, and many architects, that we must answer this demand and never stop challenging ourselves.

I wanted to do a very slender building, and a very transparent one.

It's very atmospheric. It's not a building that is a severe statement in the skyline. We need the height; otherwise, the building almost disappears because it is so slender.

There was a wish to get something exceptional. I also wanted to deliver something technically unique.

On a practical level, the design creates a new direct link to Governors Island for both tourists and Island workers from both Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. The system is very light, using only three supports, none of which stands in the water, so the shipping channels are left completely open.

He looked around at the perfectly white world, felt the wet kisses of the snowflakes, pondered hidden meanings in the pale yellow streetlights that shone in a world so whitely asleep.

"Beautiful," he whispered.