Home > Freedom Tower

The Freedom Tower is the name given to the planned centerpiece building of the new World Trade Center, whose predecessor was destroyed in the attacks of September 11, 2001. When completed by 2008 or 2009, by some measurements the Freedom Tower might become the tallest building in the world, with its spire rising to a symbolic height of 1776 feet ( 541 m) ( 1776 is significant as the year of the United States Declaration of Independence). The tower will have 70 stories and 2.6 million ft² (240,000 m²) of office space including its 276 foot (84 m) spire meant to echo the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

On July 4July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. Events 993 Saint Ulrich of Augsburg canonized. 1054 A supernova is observed by the Chinese and Amerindians near the star ζ Tauri. For severa, 20042004 is a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 2004 calendar), and has also been designated the: International Year of Rice International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition Elections are to be held in 73 co, a symbolic groundbreakingGroundbreaking is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and businessmen. The actual shovel used during t ceremony took place, with the laying of a 20 tonThe short ton (or simply ton in casual use in the USA) is a unit of mass 907. 185 kg (2000 lb). See also: long ton tonne Units of mass. granite cornerstoneA cornerstone is an important cultural component of western architecture, often indicating a building time and significant builders, enscribed on the stone. Some cornerstones include time capsules of the time a particular building was built. Cornerstones. The cornerstone was quarried from the Adirondack MountainsMuch of the following text dates from 1911. Much of it needs to be updated. The Adirondack mountain range are a group of mountains in north-eastern New York, U. in Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Hamilton counties, often included by geographers in the Appala, and is inscribed with the text "To honor and remember those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and as a tribute to the enduring spirit of freedom — July Fourth 2004". New York Governor George PatakiGeorge Elmer Pataki (born June 24, 1945) is the current governor of the U. state of New York (since 1995). He is a member of the Republican Party and has Hungarian ancestry. George Pataki was born in Peekskill, New York. He is a 1967 graduate of Yale Univ, New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg were in attendance, as were the friends and families of many of the victims. Although the ceremony marks the formal beginning of construction, regulatory approvals for the construction and the detailed design are not yet complete.

The Freedom Tower will make history by being the first skyscraper to integrate large-scale wind turbines that will generate up to 20% of the building's electrical power needs. Wind turbines are generally not suited for urban environments because of turbulence created by other nearby buildings, but the altitude of the wind turbines is expected to overcome that difficulty.

The master planner and architect of the Freedom Tower is architect Daniel Libeskind although David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, an architect for Silverstein is also working with him to maximize office space. Libeskind has in fact never designed a skyscraper before. Silverstein and Childs hope the Freedom Tower and the complex of new buildings around it will fully replace the 10 million ft² (~1 million m²) of office space lost.

Like the World Trade Center, there will be a public lobby, and two concourse levels which will house retail stores and provide pedestrian access to mass transit. Capped on the very top of the 60 floors will be an indoor observation deck, a restaurant, and an event space. The Freedom Tower Spire's upper levels in some plan conceptions contain a massive vertical garden memorial known as Gardens of the World.

On top of the spire, the antenna will raise the Tower to over 2000 feet (610 m). This will be the new broadcasting system to various New York TV channels and Radio stations.

The Freedom Tower design has generated some controversy due to the limited number of floors (a maximum of 70) that is slated to house 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. Other architects, however, have contended that a taller building should have been considered, suggesting that for reasons of cost and engineering, taller buildings may actually be safer (Attia 2000).

The World Trade Center's North Tower featured an occupied floor at 1,355 feet (413 m). The Freedom Tower's top floor will be much lower, at about 1,100 feet (335 m) where there will be an observation deck. Above will be only ornamental latticework containing windmills, another observation deck at 1500 feet (457 m), and a 276 foot spire at the top, bringing the building's total height to 1,776 feet (541 m). By contrast, the Sears Tower, Taipei 101, and other buildings have top floors higher than the Freedom Tower. Union Square Phase 7 and the Shanghai World Financial Center will have roofs and floors higher than Freedom Tower's latticework. Only by the standard measurements of the spire and probably antenna height criteria of the organizations such as the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) will the Freedom Tower possibly be the tallest building in the world. Indeed, the Burj Dubai tower, even if its height is a guarded secret, will probably beat all existing buildings when it is finished, in 2008 as well.

All sources of original images are used by permission and published by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation [1]