As the first office tower to rise on the actual World Trade Center site, the Freedom Tower recaptures the New York skyline, reasserts downtown Manhattan's preeminence as a business center and establishes a new civic icon for the country. It is a memorable architectural landmark for the city and the nation; a building whose simplicity and clarity of form will remain fresh and timeless in its design. Extending the long tradition of American ingenuity in high-rise construction, the design solution is an innovative mix of architecture, structure, urban design, safety and sustainability.
The Freedom Tower is a bold and simple icon in the sky that acknowledges the memorial below. While the memorial, carved out of the earth, speaks of the past and of remembrance, the Freedom Tower speaks about the future and hope as it rises into the sky in a faceted, crystalline form filled with, and reflecting light. This tall, pointed tower, in the tradition of great New York City icons such as the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building, evokes the slender, tapering triangular forms of these two great landmarks of midtown and replaces one quarter of the World Trade Center office space lost on September 11, 2001. (Overall, downtown lost approximately 15 million square feet of office space on September 11th.)
The tower rises from a cubic base whose square plan - 200 feet by 200 feet - is the same size as the footprints of the original Twin Towers. The base is clad in more than 2000 pieces of prismatic glass; each measures 4 feet x 13 feet 4 inches with varying depths. It has been designed to draw upon the themes of motion and light; a shimmering glass surface drapes the tower's base and imparts a dynamic fluidity of form whose appearance will reflect its surroundings. Just as the rest of the building, the base will serve as a glowing beacon.
Generous open spaces - designed in collaboration with landscape architect Peter Walker - filled with trees, water and places of respite that enliven the surrounding streets, connect the tower with the adjacent neighborhoods and allow views and access into the memorial. While incorporating enhanced security measures, the building remains open and accessible. Entrances on all four sides of the buildings, each 60 feet high and ranging in width from 30 feet on the east and west sides (for access to the restaurant and observation deck, respectively) to 50 feet on the north side and 70 feet on the south for primary tenant access, activate the building at street level.
As the tower itself rises from this cubic base, its square edges are chamfered back, transforming the square into eight tall isosceles triangles in elevation. At its middle, the tower forms a perfect octagon in plan and then culminates in a glass parapet (elevation 1362 feet and 1368 feet) whose plan is a square, rotated 45 degrees from the base. A mast containing an antenna for television broadcasters - designed by a collaboration between SOM, artist Kenneth Snelson (who invented the tensegrity structure), lighting designers and engineers - and secured by a system of cables, rises from a circular support ring, similar to the Statue of Liberty's torch, to a height of 1776 feet.
You get a better idea of what the crown on the roof looks like with this updated picture. I also never noticed how the tower looks more angled toward the site. Not even with the west side highway like i always thought. Looks pretty sharp.
if you go back 3 years and think about what we could have been stuck with, i can't complain at all. the freedom tower and its little friends look good to me...
He was stubbornly determined to have that ugly birdcage design built, even though the NYPD tried to convince him that it would be vulnerable to an attack, he ignored their concerns and pressed on.
Yes Renton12, I never noticed that either. The Twins were put there the same way - at an angle, but if you look at there footprints, you'll see that they were perfectly aligned with Church Street, while West Street had them at an angle.
He was stubbornly determined to have that ugly birdcage design built, even though the NYPD tried to convince him that it would be vulnerable to an attack, he ignored their concerns and pressed on.
Yes Renton12, I never noticed that either. The Twins were put there the same way - at an angle, but if you look at there footprints, you'll see that they were perfectly aligned with Church Street, while West Street had them at an angle.
i'm not sure what the towers were aligned with, along with the rest of the plaza. in relation to church street, it's a little off and in relation to the neighboring buildings, it's also a little off. maybe they weren't supposed to be perfectly aligned with anything but itself (if that makes sense), but positioned well enough to fit in with the angles of the surrounding streets and buildings... or something like that
by the way, the birdcage probably has the same bulk of occupied floors as the current freedom tower. taking into account this plan's number of mechanical floors and huge base, i'm sure the two aren't too far apart. the more i think about it, the more i believe the fortress base was just a convenient way for them to add height without piling on square footage, rather than to protect the lobby. of course, the only thing that matters to me is which is more aesthetically appealing (and a 1400ft observation deck, rather than 800...) and that's obviously the latter.
- i've noticed this from the day the redesign was unveiled, but i was just wondering if anyone else agrees.
Anyone else notice how in the new rendering, the top floors/portion seem to have a slightly different facade? I can't tell if it's meant to be like that or just reflecting the lighting/angle.
Anyone else notice how in the new rendering, the top floors/portion seem to have a slightly different facade? I can't tell if it's meant to be like that or just reflecting the lighting/angle.
New Jack City ,
My friend,
All I have to say is, " IT's BEAUTIFUL ",
now, let's get it Completed and built and Opened by
September 11th, 2011
all i ever now dream of , Is to see this Tower at 1776 Built in MY Lifetime, PLEASE !!!:cheers:
Here it is, the MEGA WTC picture thread where all pictures of the WTC pre 9/11 are posted and we remember the Twin Towers. Keep in mind, I didn't take these pictures. Feel free to comment and add more pictures!
Here we go...
I don't get why the original Building 7 was called "7 World Trade Center" and was considered a part of the original complex, since it wasn't connected to the plaza in the same way how the other buildings of the original complex were.
And also the original Building 7 wasn't connected to the...
Lord Rogers’s Tower 3 at 175 Greenwich Street, between Dey and Cortlandt Streets, is a flat-topped building with asymmetrical shoulders and the diagonal beams of the exoskeletal framework (on the sides) seem to echo the rooftop of Tower 2. The building will rise 1,155 feet, reaching the higher...
What if 9/11 hadn't happened in 2001 but would happen today, what do you guys think would be different? I think the main difference would be that of communication. I guess the occupants as well as the firefighters in both towers would have realized much sooner what was going on, in terms of...
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New Jack City · updated 
JohnFlint1985 · updated 
Hogwallop · updated 
