The piece was commissioned by the owner of the World Trade Center , the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey ( PANYNJ ) , in 1966 . The Authority 's original choice had been Henry Moore , but Koenig was chosen after architect Minoru Yamasaki saw some of Koenig 's work at the Staempfli Gallery in Manhattan . Koenig started work in 1967 in his barn in Bavaria , while the WTC was in the planning stages , and finished it four years later in time for the opening of the towers . Officially titled '' '' ' Große Kugelkaryatide '' ' '' ( '' Great Spherical Caryatid '' ) by the artist , the sculpture was soon referred to as '' The Sphere . '' After the September 11 attacks , upon recovery from the rubble pile the sculpture was dismantled and sent to storage near John F. Kennedy International Airport . Its extraction had been widely covered in local news media in the New York metropolitan area . As it was a memorable feature of the Twin Towers site , there was much discussion about using it in a memorial , especially since it seemed to have survived the attacks relatively unscathed
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
The Sphere