NY unveils revised Freedom Tower

[Paul Clerkin]

NY unveils revised Freedom Tower

New York officials have unveiled a revised design for the skyscraper that will replace the World Trade Center, following fears over security.

The Freedom Tower is being built on the site of the Twin Towers destroyed in the 11 September 2001 attacks.

Architects redesigned it after police expressed concern that the 1,776-foot (540-metre) building could be vulnerable to truck bomb attacks.

Under new plans it is further from the road and has a strengthened structure.

The redesign calls for a concrete and steel pedestal, clad in ornamental metalwork, and topped by a tower of glass.

The building is capped with a mast incorporating an antenna, which is meant to evoke the torch of the Statue of Liberty.

"This new design reflects a soaring tribute to freedom and a bedrock commitment to safety and security," New York Governor George Pataki said.

The symbolic height - which in feet refers to the year of the American Declaration of Independence - is one of the few features left from the initial plans.

The building's chief architect said he felt better about the new one than the original.

"It is unique, yet it subtly recalls, in the sky, the tragedy that has happened here," David Childs said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4634221.stm

[PVC King]

Saw this on Ft.com this evening, aparently the neo-conservatives have cost the scheme its principal tenant (The UN) by slashing it's US contribution, so appears it will be quite empty for a while.

[Paul Clerkin]

an empty symbol of freedom - quite apt really

[sw101]

paranoia tower. what a joke

[modular man]

This building seems to have lost a whole lot of finesse during this rethink. It really is beginning to look more and more like Thrump tower every day.

[Boyler]

That's what paranoia can do. But then again it is understandable.

[PVC King]

World Trade Centre wrangling resolved

27 April 2006 14:09
The last major obstacles to rebuilding on the site of the World Trade Centre in New York, which was destroyed in the 11 September attacks in 2001, have been cleared.

Developers expect to begin work in the coming days.

Work was delayed by wrangling between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, and the developer Larry Silverstein who took out a lease on the site two months before the attacks.

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They have now agreed that Mr Silverstein will hand control of the centrepiece, Freedom Tower, and one other high-rise building over to the authority, while he remains landlord of three other proposed office towers.

http://www.rte.ie