Fumihiko Maki is a Japanese architect who received the Pritzker Prize for

Fumihiko Maki is a Japanese architect who received the Pritzker Prize for his work, which often explores pioneering uses of new materials and fuses the cultures of east and west.

“We wanted to create something quiet and dignified,” Gary Kamemoto said of Japanese master architect Fumihiko Maki’s geometric design for the 978-foot tower

The first skyscraper at lower Manhattan’s World Trade Center is set to open with two days of ceremonies to mark the renewal of the area after its destruction by terrorists. When the fanfare subsides, the task will be filling the 40 percent of the tower that’s empty.

Fumihiko Maki, the tower’s Pritzker Prize-winning architect, aimed for a “quiet, dignified” presence, out of respect for the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which is across the street from the building’s entrance, according to a video on Silverstein’s website. A highly polished black wall, which reflects the trees from the memorial park, is the backdrop for the front lobby off Greenwich Street, which runs through the area for the first time since site clearing began for the original World Trade Center.

“In the granite, it forms a zero, the Japanese symbol for rebirth,” Kamemoto said.