How come the original World Trade Centers towers were offsetted?

[WTC Twin Towers]

How come the twin towers of the original World Tarde Center were placed right behind each other instead of having them completely right next to each and facing each other's direction like how the Petronas Towers are?

Here's a link a photo of the Petronas Towers that I found from the website "asiawebdirect.com":
http://static.asiawebdirect.com/m/kl...onas-tower.jpg

Or like how the Imperial twin towers (Mumbai) are?

Here's a link to a photo of the Imperial twin towers (Mumbai) that I found from the website "minaean.com":
http://minaean.com/wp-content/upload...Mumbai_big.jpg

Or like how the twin towers from the City National Plaza are?

Here's a photo of the twin towers from the City National Plaza that I found from the website "laconservancy.org":
https://www.laconservancy.org/sites/...?itok=1W9s_4gQ

So what I'm saying is that most twin structures are placed completely right next to each other, but the World Trade Center twin towers were not, and I wonder why there weren't.

[JManc]

Architecturally; so you can see them both from multiple angles? Allow tenants in each building to have unobstructed views? Allow for space for other buildings, open space? Who knows?

[MolsonExport]

Tal A's twin brother, Tal B, wanted a unique profile.

[mrnyc]

maybe the views are better offset than having one side totally blocked? its debatable, but having been in both the old wtc and in paired buildings i would say so. of course the people on each of the corners get the same blocked views by the other building, but in the wtc it didn't seem so oppressive or whatever you would call it as dead on does. for example, one angled portion gives you different light during the day.

[scalziand]

It was for aerodynamic purposes, IIRC.

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Tal A's twin brother, Tal B, wanted a unique profile.

Classic.

[Jasoncw]

It's to have a more dynamic composition.

Modernism is more open to having offsets, pinwheels, layering, and other compositional techniques, rather than the old beaux arts architecture which tends to favor static monumental axises. This makes a bigger difference at ground level in the plaza, but even in skyline shots, most of the interesting photos of the WTC you see are only possible with offset towers.

This is also the reason why there are two towers instead of just one, because having two of them creates a pair of compositional elements which can be arranged with each other.

[rgarri4]

So that one doesn't completely block the view of the other.