Maverick architecture critic Philip Nobel takes us deep into the inner workings of Ground Zero, tracing the redevelopment of this battleground construction site from smoke-shrouded ruin to controversial master plan. Nobel gathers the huge cast of players at war with one another: real estate developers; grieving families; ambitious politicians; and most of all the architects, in the national spotlight as never before, charged with satisfying impossible demands and reconciling a sacred zone with daily life. By turns tragic and comic, Sixteen Acres is a riveting story of high culture and low dealings, confronting the essential questions: Can buildings provide meaning? Are modern architects up to the job? What are the limits of architecture?