Anybody who watched the wreath laying ceremony earlier today will have noticed the 16 acre ditch in the middle of Manhattan called Ground Zero. It's been that way, more or less, for 5 years. It's been a debacle from the beginning with New York Governor George Pataki looking for a legacy, developers looking to line their pockets with government grants, designs that nobody likes and a memorial area that isn't even fully funded & will have to rely on a fund-raising campaign.
Many people have had problems with the overall plan as a whole. The argument being office space isn't in demand in that part of New York, like it had been. Mayor Bloomberg had made some comments suggesting residential apartments be part of the rebuilding plan, but you then get into arguments of whether homes should be built on a graveyard or site of a national tragedy.
My biggest problem with the Freedom Tower & the overall new World Trade Center design, is the aesthetics suck when compared to the original twin towers & other skyscrapers....
Freedom Tower
The Freedom Tower was intended to be the world's tallest building at 1,776 ft. (541 meters), but that will be because of the spire on the roof. It will have 82 floors, but that's fewer than the Empire State Building's 102 & only 5 more than the Chrysler Building. Also, it's distinction as the world's largest building might not happen. There are buildings in development that might stretch to a 1/2 mile tall.
I have to say that the current design is better than the original design, which was much worse, but after they revealed Towers 2, 3 and 4 that will sit next to it, it doesn't match the other buildings. It also begs the question of why they just can't build 2 versions of the Freedom Tower (to mimic the original twin towers) & have 2 lesser buildings, if they're going to build that much office space? I don't know why there's a resistance to building 2 Towers that stand side by side, like the original World Trade Center.
Towers 2, 3 & 4
Tower 2 has been informally dubbed the "Windows Building" by some people, since the diamond shaped roof resembles Microsoft's Windows logo. It will be taller than the Empire State Building...
Noted architect Sir Norman Foster was awarded the contract to design the building which will have a total floor count of 78 stories. The building will have a height of 1,254 feet (382 m), with a tripod shaped antenna that reaches 1,350 feet (411 m). In comparison, the Empire State Building is 1250 feet (381 m) tall at its top floor, and the original World Trade Center Two building was 1,362 feet (415 m).
Tower 3 will be located at 175 Greenwich Street...
Noted architect Sir Richard Rogers has been awarded the contract to design the building, which will be 1,155 feet (352 m) tall. The four spires in the design would give the building a pinnacle height of 1,255 feet (383 m). The total floor space of the building is anticipated to include 2.0 million square feet of office and retail space.
Tower 4 at 150 Greenwich Street...
Noted architect Fumihiko Maki has been awarded the contract to design the building which will be 947 feet (288 m) tall. The total floor space of the building is anticipated to include 1.8 million square feet of office and retail space.
Other Buildings Planned
The Freedom Tower was originally planned to be the worlds talllest building back in 2002, but
Pataki has kept the height stuck at 1,776 ft. in order for the the symbolism. I wish somebody would tell him that most of the world uses the metric system, so they won't get the symbolism. Upon completion, the Freedom Tower won't be the tallest building in the world or even in the United States...
Burj Dubai & Al Burj
The Burj Dubai (left) is rumored to stretch over a half mile, more than 700 meters tall in Dubai, United Arab Emirates...
Its final height is officially being kept a secret due to competition; however, figures released by a contractor on the project have suggested a height of around 808 m. (2650 ft)
The
Al Burj is a second proposed skyscraper for Dubai, that might be more than a kilometer tall...
Like the Burj Dubai, officials have said the tower will be at least 700 m tall although the official height will remain secret. This certainly will make it among the tallest buildings in the world. Some rumours have even suggested it will break the 1-km mark and there are indeed renditions of it with at least 205 floors and huge twin spires which would suggest something within this height range.
400 North Lake Shore Drive
400 North Lake Shore Drive (orignally called the Fordham Spire) in Chicago will be the tallest building in the United States. Groundbreaking is expected next year, with completion in 2010, around the same time as the Freedom Tower in New York...
At 2,000 ft (610 m) tall, including a 1,600 ft (488 m) high roof, it would surpass Chicago's Sears Tower and New York's Freedom Tower, which is to be 1,776 ft (541 m) tall, as America's tallest tower. 400 North Lake Shore Drive would have 200 to 250 condominiums priced from $600,000 to $5,000,000 on top of a 20-story hotel. Although this building will be very tall, it will not surpass Burj Dubai, currently under construction in Dubai, UAE. It will, however, be the tallest free-standing structure in North America surpassing Toronto's CN Tower.