Architect David Childs puts his hand behind the top of the design for the Freedom Tower. The model shows the tower in Lower Manhattan, looking from across the Hudson River.
AP Photo / Gregory Bull 2005: The final design for Freedom Tower, meant to replace the World Trade Center towers destroyed in the Sept. 11 attacks, is formally introduced.
The tower, a single cylinder rising 1,776 feet above Lower Manhattan, will, by the time of its completion in 2010, replace roughly a quarter of the 15 million square feet of office space lost when the twin towers and a nearby building collapsed.
But Freedom Tower, designed by architects Daniel Libeskind and David Childs, is about much more than creating new office space. Its design is symbolic (as well as tremendously reinforced). The stainless-steel and titanium-clad base of the building reflects on the past and is surrounded by a memorial to the victims of 9/11. Freedom Tower itself recalls the classic design of the Empire State and Chrysler buildings in midtown and, like those, is topped by a spire.
The overall effect, however, can only be described as defiant and forward looking. Not only will Freedom Tower soar 400 feet higher than the twin towers, but the entire building will be illuminated at night. Libeskind described this effect as "a beacon in the downtown skyline, gesturing now toward the glowing torch of Lady Liberty."
An observation deck will be open to the public at 1,362 feet, making it level with the top of the south tower of the World Trade Center.
If Freedom Tower were to open today, it would be the tallest office building in the world, although there are buildings on the drawing board (including the Chicago Spire building) that will eventually surpass it in height. No building, however, is likely to eclipse Freedom Tower as a symbol -- or a memorial.
(Source: Lower Manhattan Development Corporation)
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