Current rendering of the
Freedom Tower
released June 29, 2005.
Image courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Current rendering of the
Freedom Tower
released June 29, 2005.
Image courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Current rendering of the
Freedom Tower
released June 29, 2005.
Image courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Current rendering of the
Freedom Tower
released June 29, 2005.
Image courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Current rendering of the
Freedom Tower
released June 29, 2005.
Image courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Current rendering of the
Freedom Tower
released June 29, 2005.
Image courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Current rendering of the
Freedom Tower
released June 29, 2005.
Image courtesy of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Click here for information on licensing this image
.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Click here for information on licensing this image
.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Click here for information on licensing this image
.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Click here for information on licensing this image
.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Click here for information on licensing this image
.
Old rendering of the
Freedom Tower
from the 2004 plan.
Image courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Click here for information on licensing this image
.
•
Sears Tower
 Chicago, United States
•
Freedom Tower
New York, United States
•
Burj Dubai
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
•
Flatiron Building
New York, United States
•
Williams Tower
Houston, United States
•
Big Ben
London, United Kingdom
•
BellSouth Building
Nashville, United States
•
London City Hall
London, United Kingdom
•
Fordham Spire, The
Chicago, United States
•
Elder Street Artists Lofts
Houston, United States
|
|
| |
Built: 2004-2008
Designed by: Studio Daniel Libeskind
Type:
Skyscraper
Stories: 70
Maximum height: 1,776 feet / 541 meters
Location: World Trade Center,
New York,
United States
View from above with
|
Building Rating
 50% of readers like the Freedom Tower.
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
W
hen completed, this will be one of the most important buildings of the early 21st century. It is significant in stature, in design, in its politics, its symbolism, and for the reason it was built.
The Freedom Tower is the replacement for what was once New York's World Trade Center. In September, 2001 terrorists destroyed several of the Center's buildings, including the massive 110 -story twin towers. The stated reason for this action was to protest the United States' support of the nation of Israel and its people. The terrorist attack only served to solidify the bond between the U.S. and Israel, and caused wars in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and the toppling of the Taliban government in Afghanistan. Thousands died when the twin tower fell, and millions were emotionally and psychologically scarred.
The Freedom Tower is more than a real estate project. It is rehabilitation for those hurt by the terrorists and a way to heal the scar on a nation. Part of the healing process is new growth, which this tower represents. But it has been a painful process. The early designs were ridiculed. When the first cohesive plan came out of the pack it, too, found slews of detractors. New Yorkers are notoriously cranky people and they took aim at the design. Most had forgotten, or were too young to remember, that the original twin towers were also the subject of much vitriol for their design and expense. It was only after those towers were taken away that the city realized it had grown to love its pair of white albatrosses. But detractors stalled the project for more than a year, adopted celebrity real estate mogul Donald Trump as their mouthpiece, and embarrassed the city and the nation by allowing the United Arab Emirates to begin work on what would become the world's tallest tower while New Yorkers were busy sticking their thumbs in each other's eyes.
The current design is much less flashy than the previous one. It is something like a large sloping block with the corners carved off, so it appears that the entire building twists as it gets higher. The building's faces will be huge triangles that taper toward the top and the bottom. At the center of the building, they will form an octagon. The skyscraper is symmetrical. Asymmetry was something in the last design that set a lot of people off. Some people also don't appreciate the spire at the top. They forget that the Twin Towers had a spire, too, and the mast is necessary for communications transmitters.
The new Freedom Tower will pay homage to the twin towers in several ways. The base of the Freedom Tower will be 200 feet square -- the same dimensions as the original towers. The observation deck will be at 1,362 feet: the heigh of World Trade Center Tower Two. The glass parapet will be at 1,368 feet: the height of World Trade Center Tower One.
The Freedom tower is just one of several buildings that will be erected to compose the new World Trade Center. The design is officially known as ?Memory Foundations? because it leaves room for several memorials in the 16-acre complex. One of those memorials is the slurry wall, more commonly known as ?the bathtub.? This structure was the basement of the World Trade Center and served to hold back the Hudson River to keep it from flooding the complex. It was here that the remains of thousands of dead were found, and hundreds more who were never found. People will be able to walk down a ramp from ground level all the way down to bedrock along the edge of this wall -- the last original remaining piece of the twin towers.
|
>29 May, 2003 - The New York Times reports that the Metropolitan Television Alliance has signed a deal to put as many as 22 antennae on top of Freedom Tower. The World Trade Center was home to many of New York's television and radio transmitters until the attacks of September 11, 2001. The Freedom Tower will be the new home to TV channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12, 13, 28, 30, 31, 36, 38, 40, 41, 44, 45, 47, 53, 56, 61, and 68.
>17 July, 2003 - Architect David Childs is chosen to design the Freedom Tower.
>4 July, 2004 - Groundbreaking. A 20-ton granite slab is used as the cornerstone of the project. It is inscribed with the words "To honor and remember those who lost their
lives on September 11, 2001 and as a tribute to the enduring spirit
of freedom. - July Fourth, 2004."
>9 November, 2004 - An architecture student sues the designers of the Freedom Tower. He claims the building was copied from his design for a skyscraper intended to be part of New York's 2012 Olympic bid.
> 16 December, 2004 - The World Trade Center victims memorial is revised. The new plan includes a Memorial Hall between the reflecting pools that will mark the footprints of the former World Trade Center. It will also include a grove of oak trees with a clearing for memorial services, and public access to the stumps of the columns that once held the Twin Towers aloft. The memorial is expected to cost US$500,000.00 and be completed by 2009.
> 3 May, 2005 - U.S. Senator Charles Schumer warns that the Freedom Tower project is in jeopardy. He notes that the steel has yet to be ordered, and claims that critics are being given too much attention, preventing the start of real construction. At the same time, the
New York Times
reports that Kevin M. Rampe has quit as project leader.
> 29 June, 2005 - Amid much criticism from celebrity real estate moguls and the general public, a new design is released for the Freedom Tower.
>11 September, 2008 - Anticipated topping out of the Freedom Tower.
|