Thursday, May 05, 2005

Addition to NY Skyline put on Hold

Freedom Tower to be redesigned

I had not kept up with the commissioning of the tower and complex which will be built on the location of the former World Trade Center site. It appears today, however, that the plans have hit a snag and redesign will take several months or up to a year.

As I got to reading more about this project today, it has seen it's fair share of controversy and debate over the past year plus since the original "compromise" proposal was unveiled in December of 2003. There are two architects who are having to work together on the project, but they seem to have somewhat divergent visions. The architect who "won" the WTC site redesign project, Daniel Libeskind, proposed a tower 1776 feet high (to symbolize the founding of the United States) and an asymmetrical spire invoking outstretched arm of the Statute of Liberty. David Childs, an architecht co-commissioned on the project, has not been as sold on the off-centered-ness of the spire, and has included a "lattice" like cabled top, in homage to the cables of the Brooklyn Bridge, including windmills which hope to harness the power of the winds to provide up to 20% of the building's power needs. The relationship between the two has been stormy, and it will be interesting to see what comes out of the new redesign project.

You can find more information on the Freedom Tower at:
Frontline
The City Review
and a slideshow of artist renderings of the "compromise" tower at CNN.

That slideshow contains this picture - which to me breathtakingly captures the tower's intended reference to the Statute of Liberty.

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