Lessons from Tragedy: How September 11th Changed the Way We Build

Why did it happen? What are the lessons learned, and how do we fix it so it doesn't happen again? - Sal Verrastro 

September 2026 marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the crash of Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. As we remember the lives lost, we also reflect on the lessons that continue to shape how we design and construct buildings.

Why did the towers fall? What did the investigations reveal? And how have those findings influenced building codes, fire protection, and the ways we help people safely exit buildings?

This month on Deliberate Words, Sal Verrastro of Spillman Farmer Architects joins us to explore how the construction industry learns from tragedy—and turns those lessons into safer buildings and better practices.

A Kansas State University architecture graduate, Sal brings 43 years of experience with Spillman Farmer and a distinguished career in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley. He serves on AIA’s national Documents Committee, and his work as an expert witness gives him firsthand insight into how buildings and construction processes can fail. Those experiences continually inform his approach to making buildings safer and improving the industry—the same process of investigation, learning, and change that followed September 11.

Join hosts David Stutzman and Steve Gantner for a thoughtful conversation with Sal about lessons learned from catastrophes—and our shared responsibility to put those lessons into practice.