The new design for Freedom Tower of the redesigned WTC site was unveiled today. The tower, the product of compromises between architects Daniel Libeskind and David Childs, will be the tallest building in the world with its spire and antennae reaching 1,776 feet. Governor Pataki, during the unveiling of the tower on the Today show, said, "This represents a melding of two very, very talented creative geniuses." Childs said he and Libeskind "a spectacular time working together," adding, "Creative minds have different thoughts about how you do things. I wouldn't want to work with somebody who would just say yes." Right, he wants someone who may or may not have ransacked his offices. The building is expected to be completed in 2008.
The picking a finalist for the WTC Memorial will not happen until next year; the jury is reportedly asking for further tecnical information and even changes. See the finalists at the NY Times' special site on the memorial.
More from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation about the redesigned WTC site and memorial.
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I think the gardens and the evocation of the statue of liberty in the freedom tower were some of the hallmarks that made Leibiskinds plan so appealing (to some of us). All of that is lost. Now we just have an attrociously tall building. The cigarette full of windmills with lots of cables wrapped around it is not a suitable replacement. And the tapered twisted base of the building makes the design wholely unlike the rest of the plan.
The Leibiskind design has vanished completely within an ordinary and predictable mass of concrete and glass. [Anyone see the resemblance to Childs 7 WTC across the street?] Some of the greatest buildings ever designed were never built, I guess we can file Leibskinds design in that file.
ugh. makes nyc look like toronto.
This is outrageous.
The "Freedom Tower" is now a 70-story office building with "a cable suspension structure" (read: "permanent scaffolding") on top?
This is going to be the world's tallest building--right? Well, minus the 276 ft. spire, it's only 1500 ft.--and that's really just several stories of scaffolding. So, actually, it's more like the Citicorp Building--at 915 ft.--with some "stuff" on top to make it the "World's Tallest Building."
This is really just a few notches above putting a really-decked out parking garage over the site of the WTC.
I hope public opinion won't let Silverstein/Childs get away with actually building such a bland, unremarkable architectural atrocity. We can't just say, "Well, that's good enough--Thank God Childs and Libeskind didn't kill each other."
shit tower.
Why not trap the two architects in that strange cage on top and have them fight it out to the merriment of all and sundry?
The spire is facing the wrong direction! It should look as though it is facing the same direction as the Statue of Liberty.
I am so disappointed. This must be a joke. I'm not even interested in this anymore. We should have known better - Just look at those eyeglasses. This is an embarrassment to this country. ugh. Not the tallest, but the most pathetic building in the world. I think I prefer nothing. This "lattice structure" is such a - oh it doesn't matter anyway. Complaining in this forum does no good anyway. What can we do? Is there anything we can do? Libeskind and Pataki will not see this post. To me, it'll just be another ugly building.
Check it out: www.memorialtower.met
support it - tell it - believe it!
That's a really bad picture of it, I've seen models of it and it's amazing. It will be a world famous landmark. The lattice crown will be its unique trademark.
This plain, drab looking structure is not going to be the worlds tallest building, but rather the worlds tallest contraption. What a ridiculous idea to put windmills in a skyscraper to try to hide the cowardice for building a tall real building. It is a giant monument crying out to the terrorists that we are afraid to build tall.
Should a jet ever strike this building, I'm sure this building will prove it is much safer with all of those stupid windmills falling some 1500 feet to crash on the city streets below.
I like the idea of building someting in the place of the WTC but this odd shaped object doesn't seem to be the answer. I think a plaque of some type would be better then adding this 'contraption' to the NYC skyline. Save the money of building this and give it back to the community instead. It would be much more needed there.
I like the idea of building someting in the place of the WTC but this odd shaped object doesn't seem to be the answer. I think a plaque of some type would be better then adding this 'contraption' to the NYC skyline. Save the money of building this and give it back to the community instead. It would be much more needed there.
I like the idea of building someting in the place of the WTC but this odd shaped object doesn't seem to be the answer. I think a plaque of some type would be better then adding this 'contraption' to the NYC skyline. Save the money of building this and give it back to the community instead. It would be much more needed there.