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Terrorism + state and city politicians +architects equals the redesigned Freedom Tower.

The impermeable and impregnable 200-foot-square concrete and steel pedestal, anchors the 1,776-foot tower (same as the WTC), and is setback from roads to make car and truck bombings all but impossible. And it has extra stairways for rescue workers.

The previous design by Daniel Libeskind, and later altered by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, was criticized by the New York Police Department for being insufficiently protected from attack.

Assurance was the order of the day at the unveiling of the project. Governor Pataki said "If one of my kids worked in the building I’d be confident of their safety." Mayor Bloomberg called it "the greatest comeback in the history of our city." Chief architect David M. Childs, at Skidmore, called it a "victory column."

Happily for the owners, the 82-story Freedom Tower will retain the same 2.6 million square foot floor area as the WTC .

As the obelisk-like shaft rises, it twists, corners are cut away, and the center floors have an octagonal floor plan. Childs says it will "confuse the wind."

On top, a 408-foot spire structure will be lit from within and programmed with shifting patterns of lights, or a single beam upward– a bit like the shape of the summit of the Empire State Building.

                                             

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