Freedom Tower

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World Trade Center Tower 1 Freedom Tower
Information
Location	Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
Status	Under Construction
Groundbreaking	April 27, 2006
Est. Completion	2009
Opening	First Quarter 2011
Use	Office
Height
Antenna/Spire	1,776 ft (541 m)
Roof	1,368 ft (417 m)
Top floor	1,362 ft (415 m)
Technical Details
Floor count	108 total, 103-108/1-19 (base) excluding mechanical floors (depending on source)
Floor area	2,600,000 sq ft (241,548 m²)

Coordinates: 40°42′46.8″N, 74°0′48.6″W World Trade Center Tower 1, or Freedom Tower, is the centerpiece building of the new World Trade Center complex currently planned for Lower Manhattan. The tower will be located in the northwest corner of the 16-acre (65,000 m²) World Trade Center site, bounded by Vesey Street, West Street, Washington Street and Fulton Street.^[1] Construction on below-grade utility relocations, footings, and foundations for Freedom Tower began on April 27, 2006.^[2] As of December 19, 2006, the first steel columns are being installed at the building's foundation. Three other high rises are planned for the site along Greenwich Street, plus a residential tower that will surround the World Trade Center Memorial that is currently also under construction, and a museum.

[edit] History

Following the destruction of the World Trade Center towers in the attacks of September 11th, and the aftermath, there was much debate over how to use the site, dubbed "ground zero." Proposals began almost immediately, and by 2002, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who own the right to develop the site, organized a competition through the newly created Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to determine how to use the land. Public rejection of the first round of designs, the "Preliminary Design Concepts," led to a second, more open competition in December 2002, the "Innovative Design Study," in which a design by Daniel Libeskind was selected. This design went through many revisions, largely because of disagreements with developer Larry Silverstein, who held the lease to the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001.

A final design for the tower was formally unveiled on 2006-06-28. To satisfy security issues raised by the New York City Police Department a 187-foot concrete base was added in April of that year. The final design included plans to clad the base in glass prisms to address criticism that the base looked like a "concrete bunker." Contrasting with Libeskind's design, the final design tapers the corners of the base outward as they rise. Its designers stated that the tower will be a "monolithic glass structure reflecting the sky and topped by a sculpted antenna." In terms of a completion date, Larry Silverstein stated "By 2012 we should have a completely rebuilt World Trade Center more magnificent, more spectacular than it ever was."^[3] On 2006-04-26, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey approved a conceptual framework that enabled foundation construction to begin while a formal agreement is drafted on the following day, 2006-04-27, the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Empire State Building. Construction began with a formal ceremony that took place when the construction team arrived.^[4] It is projected that steel for the building will be visible above grade in 2008, with a topping out in 2010. The building is projected to be ready for occupancy in the first quarter of 2011.^[5]

[edit] Architecture

Many remaining vestiges of the concepts drawn from the 2002 competition have since been discarded. Freedom Tower will now consist of simple symmetries and a more traditional design intended to bear comparison with selected elements of the existing New York skyline. There will now be a central spire drawing from precedents such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building (and also visually reminiscent of Tower 1 the old World Trade Center) rather than an off-center spire intended to echo the Statue of Liberty.

"Freedom Tower will be a symbol of the entire project, as well as marking the memorial, and it occupies a very important piece of New York City property: the sky. We really wanted our design to be grounded in something that was very real, not just in sculptural sketches. We explored the infrastructural challenges because the proper solution would have to be compelling, not just beautiful. The design does have great sculptural implications, and we fully understand the iconic importance of the tower, but it also has to be a highly efficient building. The discourse about Freedom Tower has often been limited to the symbolic, formal and aesthetic aspects but we recognize that if this building doesn't function well, if people don't want to work and visit there, then we will have failed as architects."

Excerpt from "Interview with David Child's", by Eva Hagberg, www.Project Rebirth.com

[edit] Current design

The newest version of the future World Trade Center complex, unveiled on September 7, 2006, showing the Freedom Tower with its planned neighboring buildings (200 Greenwich Street, 175 Greenwich Street and 150 Greenwich Street)

The Freedom Tower's program includes 2.6 million square feet of office space, as well as an observation deck, world-class restaurants, parking, and broadcast and antennae facilities, all supported by both above and below-grade mechanical infrastructure for the building and its adjacent public spaces. Below-grade tenant parking and storage, shopping and access to the PATH and subway trains and the World Financial Center are also provided.

80-foot-high public lobby topped by a series of mechanical floors form a 200-foot-high building base. 69 tenant floors rise above the base to 1120 feet elevation. Mechanical floors, two floors to be occupied by the Metropolitan Television Alliance, restaurants and observation decks culminate in an observation deck and glass parapet that mark 1362' and 1368' respectively — the heights of the original Twin Towers. An antenna supported by a cable structure rises to a final height of 1776'

The tower rises from a cubic base whose square plan—200 feet by 200 feet—is almost as wide as the 208 foot Twin Towers. The base is clad in more than 2,000 pieces of prismatic glass; each measures 4 feet by 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. 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.^{[citation needed]}

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, or an elongated square antiprism. At its middle, the tower forms a perfect octagon in plan and then culminates in a glass parapet (elevation 1,362 feet and 1,368 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 1,776 feet. The spire will be an intense beam of light that will be lit at night and will likely be visible over a thousand feet (300 m) into the air above the tower. New York City is a suitable place to set such a light pointing towards the sky without complaints of light pollution by astronomers, as the night sky in locations near New York City are already far too bright for serious astronomical observers.^[6]

Other new safety features will include 3-foot (90 cm) thick walls for all stairwells, elevator shafts, risers, and sprinkler systems; extremely wide "emergency stairs"; a dedicated set of stairwells exclusively for the use of firefighters; and biological and chemical filters throughout its ventilation system. The building will no longer be 25 feet (7.6 m) away from West Street—with the redesign and smaller base (the same width and length now as each of the previous towers), Freedom Tower will average 90 feet (27 m) away from the street.^[7] At its closest point, West Street will be 65 feet (20 m) away. The windows on the side of the building facing in this direction will be equipped with specially tempered blast-resistant plastic, which will look nearly the same as the glass used in the other sides of the building.

"Ultra-clear" glass, as opposed to reflective or tinted glass, is proposed for the fenestration generally. This will benefit internal daylight propagation; however, at this stage it is unclear how the corresponding issue of solar heat gain will be addressed. Although the roof area of any tower is comparatively limited, the building will implement a greywater recycling scheme involving rainwater collection. The robust, redundant steel moment frame, consisting of beams and columns connected by a combination of welding and bolting, resists lateral loads through bending of the frame elements. Paired with a concrete-core shear wall, the moment frame lends substantial rigidity and redundancy to the overall building structure while providing column-free interior spans for maximum flexibility.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Height

The World Trade Center's North Tower featured an occupied floor at 1,355 feet (413 m). Though not occupied by office space, Freedom Tower's observation deck is set to be higher, at about 1,362 feet (415 m).^{[citation needed]} Currently, only The Sears Tower, & Taipei 101, have occupied floors higher than Freedom Tower. Union Square Phase 7, Shanghai World Financial Center, and the megalithic Burj Dubai will have roofs and floors higher than Freedom Tower's highest roofs and floors.

If the spire and antenna height (the criteria of one category of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat) are included, Freedom Tower might, at 1776 feet (marking the year of the signing of the American Declaration of Independence), qualify as the tallest office building in the world if no other rival towers are completed first. Emaar, the builders of the Burj Dubai tower, are keeping the final height of their building a secret, but speculation is that it will have height of over 2,600 feet (800 m) when it is finished in 2008, three to four years before Freedom Tower. This would eclipse all other office buildings, and even the CN Tower, marking the first time since 1967 that the World's tallest freestanding structure on land would go to a building rather than a tower.

There is also the proposed Chicago Spire building which is set to be completed in 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. At 150 floors, its roof will top out at 2,000 feet.^[8][9] Another proposed skyscraper, the Las Vegas Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada, would be taller than the Freedom Tower at 1888 ft. The height of Freedom Tower will probably not be increased before completion, due to the symbolism of having an exact height of 1,776 feet (541 m).

[edit] Space allotment

Nighttime rendering of the Tower

As revealed on 2006-06-28, Freedom Tower will have a top floor denoted as 102, though the total number of floors is 82 (with possibly some uncounted floors). This is because the first office floor of the building atop the tall base will be designated as Floor 20. There are 69 office floors atop the base, ending at Floor 88, above which would be broadcasting space on the 89th and 90th floors. Three stories of mechanical space take up a floor count of 9. Finally, a restaurant will take up Floors 100 and 101, and the observation deck is at Floor 102. Six additional floors of mechanical space exist above, in a total of 108 floors (Not occupied).^[10]

[edit] Floor breakdown

• Sublevels - Retail/Transportation
• Ground Floor - Main Lobby
• 1st-19th Floors (Base) - Podium (Not Occupied on the base except for lobby)
• 20th-63rd Floors - Offices
• 64th Floor - Sky lobby
• 65th - 88th Floors - Offices
• 89th and 90th Floors - Transmission equipment
• 91st - 100th Floors - Mechanical
• 100th - 101st Floors - Restaurant
• 102nd Floor - Observation deck
• 103rd - 108th Floors - Mechanical (Unoccupied)
• Top of the Building - Observation deck Two (Proposed)

[edit] Construction

The symbolic cornerstone of Freedom Tower was laid down in a ceremony on 2004-07-04^[11] and was temporarily removed from the site on June 23, 2006.^[12] Rebuilding at the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan began four and a half years after the Twin Towers were destroyed on 2001-09-11. The project had been delayed due to acrimonious disputes over money, security and design but the last major issues were resolved on 2006-04-26 with a deal between developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. As of June 12, 2006, engineers had detonated test explosives at the World Trade Center site. The procedure tested the use of charges to clear bedrock for Freedom Tower’s foundation. There are supposed to be three to four controlled explosions per day on alternating weekdays for approximately two months after.

On 2006-11-18, 400 cubic yards of concrete were poured on to the foundation of the Freedom Tower carried by as many as 40 trucks. On 2006-12-17, a ceremony was held in Battery Park City, with the public invited to sign a 30 foot steel beam.^[13] This beam, the first to be installed, was welded on to the Freedom Tower's base on December 19, 2006.^[14] On 2007-01-09 a second set of beams were welded to the top of the first set. As of February 1st the core of the building seems to have been started. The New York Post reported on 2007-02-05 that construction costs will total to just under 2.5 billion USD. It is expected that sometime in March, two towers cranes will be erected at the site, and the buildings core will gradually begin to rise toward street level. And by May, the total number of steel columns that will outline the perimeter of the Freedom Tower, will also be erected.^{[citation needed]}

Construction of the Freedom Tower, as of March 26, 2007

Freedom Tower construction, as of October 7, 2006

Site for the Freedom Tower, as of January 15, 2006

[edit] Tenants

The State of New York has agreed to a 15 year lease of 415,000 square feet of space in the Freedom Tower, with an option to extend the term of the lease and occupy up to 1,000,000 square feet.^[15] The General Services Administration (GSA) has agreed to lease over 600,000 square feet of space.^[15]

[edit] Controversy

Further information: Controversy Surrounding Rebuilding The World Trade Center

The design of Freedom Tower has generated some controversy due to the limited number of floors in the previous design (82) that were designated for office space and other amenities. The floor limit was imposed by Silverstein, who expressed concern that higher floors would be a liability in a major accident or terrorist attack. In a subsequent redesign, the highest occupiable space became comparable to the World Trade Center.

There has also been a public demand ^[16] to replace the previous twin towers instead of building a single tower.

There have also been accusations of cronyism on the part of New York Governor George Pataki, using his influence to get the winning architect's bid picked as a personal favor for a close friend.^[17] The chosen name of the "Freedom Tower," attributed to Pataki, has been criticized as Orwellian.^[18][19]

The first steel column of the tower's foundation, installed on December 19, 2006, featured a large decal of the American flag displayed vertically. Several members of the public noticed that the blue field within the flag was on the upper right side, while the Federal flag code requires that the blue field must always be presented on the left side of the viewer. The decal was quickly removed and replaced on December 23, with a properly oriented flag.^[20]

The base of the tower (fortified because of security concerns) has also been a source of controversy. A number of critics (notably Derek Murdoch in the National Review) have suggested that it is alienating and dull, and reflects a sense of fear rather than freedom, leading them to dub the project "the Fear Tower."^[1][2] Nicolai Ouroussoff, the archictecture critic for the New York Times, calls the tower base decorations a "grotesque attempt to disguise its underlying paranoia"^[3]

[edit] Key people

[edit] Larry Silverstein

Main article: Larry Silverstein

Larry Silverstein of Silverstein Properties, the leaseholder and developer of the complex, will retain control of the surrounding buildings, while the Port Authority gets full control of the tower itself. Silverstein signed a 99-year lease for the World Trade Center site in July 2001, the culmination of years of negotiation. Silverstein's insurance payout has been a subject of public discourse, as he maintained that the two planes constituted two separate attacks and sued for an extra $3.5 billion. Silverstein has pledged to support the reconstruction and remains actively involved in most aspects of the redevelopment process.

[edit] David Childs

Main article: David Childs

One of the developer and World Trade Center leaseholder Larry Silverstein's favorite architects, Childs initially came on board thanks to Silverstein's insistence, and developed a proposal for Freedom Tower in collaboration with Daniel Libeskind, a design which was revised in May 2005 to address security concerns. He is currently the project architect of the new Freedom Tower, and is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day design development from rough inception to final completion.

[edit] Daniel Libeskind

Main article: Daniel Libeskind

Libeskind won the invitational competition to develop a master plan for the World Trade Center's redevelopment in 2002. He included an initial proposal for the design of Freedom Tower, a building with aerial gardens and windmills with an off center spire. It was also Libeskind who denied a request to place the tower in a more rentable location next to the PATH station and instead placed it a block west because in profile it would line up and resemble the Statue of Liberty. Although these designs have since been changed, his contributions continue to shape the design and development at Ground Zero, as they are revised to meet economic and security realities.

[edit] See also

• Buildings and architecture of New York City
• Tallest buildings in the United States
• Tallest buildings in New York City
• World's tallest structures
• List of Skyscrapers
• Freedom Tower Silver Dollar
• Memory Foundations
• Alternative Plans
• World Trade Center
• World Trade Center Memorial
• World Trade Center site
• WTC Towers Memorial (unofficial)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• World Trade Center Official site for new World Trade Center complex.
• LowerManhattan.Info Official site for Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center.
• Freedom Tower Infosite Unofficial Freedom Tower information site.
• Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill News about Freedom Tower.
• Glass, Steel and Stone History of Freedom Tower designs.
• Video of cornerstone laying ceremony for the Freedom Tower on July 4, 2004
• Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
• Project Rebirth Documentation of the reconstruction of Ground Zero.
• Freedom Tower (Overview) Information on the design concept of the Freedom Tower.
• Google Earth Hacks Freedom Tower plug-in for Google Earth.
• Emporis Summarised Freedom Tower information.
• Twin Towers Alliance Rebuild the Twin Towers
• Rebuild the Twin Towers