Web Hosting Talk : Other Forums : Web Hosting Lounge : New WTC Tower Design Made Public!

[JHServers]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/06/29/wtc...ign/index.html

NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York officials released the latest design for the signature building at the World Trade Center site Wednesday after revising it to make the tower more secure.

Gov. George Pataki ordered the design changes because police were concerned that the tower's placement adjacent to West Street, a major thoroughfare along the west side of Manhattan, would make it vulnerable to a truck bomb.

Instead of being 25 feet from West Street, the tower will be set back 90 feet, and its 200-foot base will be a reinforced concrete wall covered in steel and titanium.

"I think it's simpler and at the same time a lot more elegant," Pataki said in an interview with CNN. "The footprint is smaller, which leads to more open space and it doesn't quite dominate over the memorial ... It's not about doing it today, it's about doing it right for tomorrow."

"The Freedom Tower," will retain the height of the earlier design -- at 1,776 feet, symbolizing the year the United States declared its independence.

But it will also include reminders of the twin towers it will replace.

The roof above the public observation deck will be at 1,362 feet, the height of old South Tower, while a glass wall will rise 1,368 feet, the height of the old North Tower.

"In subtle but important ways this building recalls what we lost," said architect David Childs.

The building will bear a spire that will emit light at night to echo the Statue of Liberty's torch.

The tower will be also more slender and occupy a smaller footprint in the northwest corner of the 16-acre site -- a footprint the same size as the old twin towers' base, 200 feet by 200 feet.

The revised tower design takes up the same amount of commercial space, one-quarter of what was lost on September 11, 2001, and many of the same features.

Above an 80-foot lobby and 120 feet of floors housing mechanical equipment, there will be 69 office floors, the highest at 1,120 feet.

The new construction timetable calls for the steel frame to rise above street level in 2007 and be topped out in 2009, with the tower ready for occupancy in 2010. That's two years later than originally planned.

"The new Freedom Tower design incorporates standards the police department had sought to protect the building against bomb blasts, which our counterterrorism experts agree present one of the greatest threats to such iconic structures," said NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, in a written statement.

Real estate developer Larry Silverstein said the tower will have a solid concrete core and state-of-the-art fireproofing on its steel beams.

Silverstein, who leased the Trade Center six weeks before it was destroyed, said he embraced the recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, which found that the dislodging of fireproofing material when the hijacked planes crashed into the towers contributed greatly to their collapse.

The tower was originally conceived by architect Daniel Libeskind, whose master site plan was chosen in February 2003 to guide the rebuilding process.

Libeskind later was forced to collaborate with Childs, hired by Silverstein, to refine the design, which was unveiled in December 2003.

The 2003 Freedom Tower model featured a torqued glass-and-steel design with a steel cable netting. It had 2.6 million square feet of commercial space, including more than 60 floors for offices, an indoor observation deck above and a sky restaurant to replace Windows of the World.

A cornerstone was laid July 4, 2004.

No tenants, other than the governor and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the transportation agency that owns the site land, have expressed interest in moving offices into the tower.

Childs said the tower is "bold and simple" and would be a "marker in the sky for the memorial below."

The memorial, Reflecting Absence, featuring two reflecting pools where the towers stood, will occupy 4.5 acres and will be the first project completed on the site.

Groundbreaking will take place early next year, with construction scheduled to be finished in September 2009.

[jasong]

Sorry to be a troll, but it still looks rather ugly to me.

[Aussie Bob]

IMO, Trump had the right idea of rebuilding the twin towers as they looked before. Such a simple yet ingenious idea.

[unixorn]

Originally posted by Aussie Bob
IMO, Trump had the right idea of rebuilding the twin towers as they looked before. Such a simple yet ingenious idea.

Bah, you beat me to it. I like Trumps idea as well, the "Freedom Tower" is too tacky and IMHO, a poor tribute to the people who were killed there.

[indiaberry]

It is nice. I wish the world trading tower could be replaced because there are so many memories there. I have been there. I have been in that build. I have walked in there with my whole sixth grader classmates. Now the future sixth grader at my school won't ever have a chance to go into the world trading tower until the tower is replaced as exact.

[akashik]

Looks better than that last P.O.S

But I agree with Bob:

Originally posted by Aussie Bob
IMO, Trump had the right idea of rebuilding the twin towers as they looked before. Such a simple yet ingenious idea.

[Tulip-Dennis]

This thread seems oddly familiar...

IMO, the new idea is bad. To rebuild them as they were, with higher structural integrity would be the best statement we could make to the world.

[viGeek]

Still bad. The new design is better than the one before. They say it's basically the origional tower with a "twist".

[Disgruntled]

I think it looks okay, but it's a waste of money and of structural integrity to pile so much cosmetic, symbolic structure on top of the functional part of the building.

[Jamie Harrop]

I personally like the look of the new tower. I do agree though, I think a more fitting tribute to the people that 9/11 effected most would be a replica of the twin towers, not only that, it would restore NYC to its former glory, I'm not saying it doesn't have enough glory at the moment, but I visited NYC back in March for the first time, I visited the site of the twin towers, it would be very nice to see this particular site in 10 years time or so back to how it was before I went. As I was stood on the ferry on my way to Liberty Island, I couldn't help but think of how much better the skyline would be with the twin towers still there, or a replica replacing them.

Like others have said, it really will be the best fit for the job of signaling to the World that the USA will not be beaten, and when they get knocked down, they will get up again.

[sean_price]

I think it looks fine, I'm looking forward to seeing how the site will look after everything is constructed and finished, years from now.

[mwrave]

I can't stand all these architects that are trying to make a fashion statement with the new building. I rather just see the old one rebuilt.

[JayC]

Personally, I think NYC needs neither this new tower nor a reconstruction of the Twin Towers.

There's a major overabundance of office space downtown. There is not one corporation who has agreed (though the city has been beating the bushes) to commit to moving to the site. There's only one commitment to any of the smaller office buildings at the site, and that is the developer's own company.

And who wants to work there? The WTC was a terrorist target twice in a decade. The redesign just released was to address security concerns... but the only real concerns being addressed are defenses against truck bombs (seems we should have learned that truck bombs aren't the possibility), and increased traffic flow during a mass evacuation. Sorry, I wouldn't want to be working 9 to 5 in that building with my only comfort being "at least if something happens I can get out in less than 20 minutes this time."

It's just false pride and political symbolism behind the idea that we're going to "show the terrorists how strong we are" by building a tower at the same site. Put the mayor's office on the top floor and move the NYPD brass just below it from One Police Plaza, or at least show me some support from NYC's business community (that is, those who aren't in line to make money directly from the development) instead of from tourists and the "this is how we'll get back at bin Ladin" crowd... and maybe I'll change my mind.

[CrazyTech]

Personally I like the design and wouldn't call it false pride at all for many of us. The new design is beautiful and includes all sorts of tributes and memorials incorporated into it's design. I'm all for building something bigger and better and in this case I think it was most certainly done.

[SniperDevil]

Originally posted by indiaberry
It is nice. I wish the world trading tower could be replaced because there are so many memories there. I have been there. I have been in that build. I have walked in there with my whole sixth grader classmates. Now the future sixth grader at my school won't ever have a chance to go into the world trading tower until the tower is replaced as exact.

Oh, what a travesty! The future sixth-graders at your school can't go into the WTC buildings now! Whatever shall we do?

Are you forgetting that thousands of people lost their lives in those buildings? I think the future sixth-graders are not the primary concern of the architects of the new building.

That said, I'm not especially fond of this idea; the name itself is rather tacky and lends itself to even more criticism overseas. It's so blatantly obvious that the name was chosen specifically because it represents the U.S. "springing back" from the hole into which it fell on September 11th that the only thing the name probably does is make people want to point and laugh at the U.S.'s attempts to "show up" the terrorists and their sympathizers.

Originally Posted by JayC

Personally, I think NYC needs neither this new tower nor a reconstruction of the Twin Towers.

There's a major overabundance of office space downtown. There is not one corporation who has agreed (though the city has been beating the bushes) to commit to moving to the site. There's only one commitment to any of the smaller office buildings at the site, and that is the developer's own company.

And who wants to work there? The WTC was a terrorist target twice in a decade. The redesign just released was to address security concerns... but the only real concerns being addressed are defenses against truck bombs (seems we should have learned that truck bombs aren't the possibility), and increased traffic flow during a mass evacuation. Sorry, I wouldn't want to be working 9 to 5 in that building with my only comfort being "at least if something happens I can get out in less than 20 minutes this time."

It's just false pride and political symbolism behind the idea that we're going to "show the terrorists how strong we are" by building a tower at the same site. Put the mayor's office on the top floor and move the NYPD brass just below it from One Police Plaza, or at least show me some support from NYC's business community (that is, those who aren't in line to make money directly from the development) instead of from tourists and the "this is how we'll get back at bin Ladin" crowd... and maybe I'll change my mind.

Very well said, Jay.

I really have no idea how they're going to get enough commercial interest to even pay off the cost of the building. If it were me looking for new office space, I doubt I would look in the new version of a building that was once obliterated by two plane-bombs!

As you suggested, why doesn't Mayor Bloomberg or the NYPD set an example by moving their offices to -- or at least some of their offices -- the new "freedom tower?" IMO, that would set the best example for potential commercial interest and would be the best way to "show up" the terrorists -- if that's even possible.