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.
