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20-ton piece of granite laid at WTC as cornerstone of new tower.

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Joe

Member
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,124683,00.html

A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper that will replace the destroyed towers.

The ceremony marked the start of construction on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, designed as a twisting glass and steel tower that evokes the Statue of Liberty, including a 276-foot spire resembling her torch.

9_23_070404_freedomtower3.jpg
 

xabre

Banned
The ceremony marked the start of construction on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, designed as a twisting glass and steel tower that evokes the Statue of Liberty, including a 276-foot spire resembling her torch.

This apparently will be the tallest building in the world. So does this mean if I put a 2,000 foot pole on the roof of my house, then my house will be the tallest building in the world?
 

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
>>>A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor "the enduring spirit of freedom," was laid Sunday at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the skyscraper that will replace the destroyed towers.

The ceremony marked the start of construction on the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, designed as a twisting glass and steel tower that evokes the Statue of Liberty, including a 276-foot spire resembling her torch.<<<

They're building something called the "Freedom Tower" on the exact spot where freedom died... Oh, bitter irony.
 

Thaedolus

Member
Well if you take out decoration and just count highest office space, then the Sears Tower is still the tallest building in the world.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Yuck. Get McGreevey the fuck out of that picture. He's ruining New Jersey in massive ways.
 
I can't stand the way they judge this Tallest thing

from the linked site above

"Taipei: On October 9, the uppermost and final spire segment was raised into place on Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan. At 509.2 meters, the 101-storey tower now officially holds the world's tallest building title previously held by completed Petronas Tower 1 and completed Petronas Tower 2. The completed Sears Tower still holds the title of the world's tallest building to the tip of the antenna at 527 meters. Taipei 101 now also holds the highest roof (449 m) and highest occupied floor (439 m) titles."
 

xabre

Banned
There's a number of worlds tallest titles as shown. I think putting a big giant spire on the top of a building (like the one of Freedom Tower just to get worlds tallest is ridiculous). By this logic the worlds tallest is really the CN Tower.
 

MetatronM

Unconfirmed Member
Do these people listen to themselves and hear how cheesy things sound some times? Freedom Tower sounds just as absurd as Freedom Fries. Or maybe something from a cheesy 80s game. "Are you a bad enough dude to save Freedom Tower from the evil ninja bandits?"
 

sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
they should have waited until they could have used stuff like super steel or nanofibers
 
Yeah, if they waited they could have a space elevator so it could be a space building. Then they could call it Awesome Tower instead of Freedom Tower.
 

Bregor

Member
Spires have been counted as part of a buildings height for quite some time, as long as they are integral to the buildings architectural design. This is why the Petronas towers where considered the tallest buildings in the world for a while.

Even without the spire, the Freedom Tower will be quite tall structure, with occupied floors up to 1250 ft, IIRC.

Here are some just released renderings of the current design (56k=no):

http://www.renewnyc.org/images_WMS/groundbreaking/aerial_sw_final.jpg
http://www.renewnyc.org/images_WMS/groundbreaking/east_view_final.jpg

Note that Childs is still working on refining the design, so the final look may be somewhat different (though not by much).
 

sprsk

force push the doodoo rock
Chesapeake Silt said:
Yeah, if they waited they could have a space elevator so it could be a space building. Then they could call it Awesome Tower instead of Freedom Tower.

i'd work at awesome tower.
 

AntoneM

Member
xabre said:
There's a number of worlds tallest titles as shown. I think putting a big giant spire on the top of a building (like the one of Freedom Tower just to get worlds tallest is ridiculous). By this logic the worlds tallest is really the CN Tower.

well if you're going to count towers you might as well count this as well...

"The tallest currently-standing structure is the KVLY-TV mast

The KVLY-TV mast (formerly the KTHI-TV mast) is a television transmitting tower in North Dakota, and at 2063' (628m) it is the tallest man-made structure in the world.

See also: World's tallest structures and List of the world's tallest structures.

Located three miles west of Blanchard, North Dakota (at 47° 20' 32" N, 97° 17' 20" W), it became the tallest artificial structure upon the completion of its construction on August 13, 1963. It was surpassed by 18m (57 feet) in 1974 by the Warszawa radio mast near Konstantynow, Poland, which collapsed on August 10, 1991, making the KVLY mast again the tallest."


You've been owned by North Dakota.
 

sefskillz

shitting in the alley outside your window
Did anti-plane measures go into this design? That looks tough as shit to hit with a 747.
 

Ghost

Chili Con Carnage!
So they are trying to trick the terrorists by making a building that doesnt look finished?

Bastard Terrorist :"Oh we'll blow it up when its done"

cunning plan..


Are the two fountains the sites of the two towers? Thats a nice touch.
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
There are 4 measures of worlds tallest building..

tallest to spire, tallest to antena, tallest to roof, and tallest to highest occupiable space.

Sears had 3 out of the 4, with Petronas having the tallest to top of spire. Tapei 101 now has 3 of the 4 with Sears retaining tallest to top of antenna..
 

Gantz

Banned
Anyone else think that building this tower is a bad idea? It's just going to be another terrorist target in the future.
 

Suerte

Member
Gantz said:
Anyone else think that building this tower is a bad idea? It's just going to be another terrorist target in the future.

Unless it has built in turrets or something...
 

Bregor

Member
Gantz said:
Anyone else think that building this tower is a bad idea? It's just going to be another terrorist target in the future.

If it isn't built, that won't stop the terrorists - they will just choose a different target. It has nothing to do with the building.
 

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Gantz said:
Anyone else think that building this tower is a bad idea? It's just going to be another terrorist target in the future.
So? Everything is a terrorist target. If not this, something else would be the number one priority. And something needs to replace all the square-footage lost for businesses.
 

MIMIC

Banned
TAJ said:
They're building something called the "Freedom Tower" on the exact spot where freedom died... Oh, bitter irony.

LOL.

If this one gets attacked, I suggest they call the new one The "Third Time's A Charm" Tower. :)
 

Lambtron

Unconfirmed Member
max_cool said:
well if you're going to count towers you might as well count this as well...

"The tallest currently-standing structure is the KVLY-TV mast

The KVLY-TV mast (formerly the KTHI-TV mast) is a television transmitting tower in North Dakota, and at 2063' (628m) it is the tallest man-made structure in the world.

See also: World's tallest structures and List of the world's tallest structures.

Located three miles west of Blanchard, North Dakota (at 47° 20' 32" N, 97° 17' 20" W), it became the tallest artificial structure upon the completion of its construction on August 13, 1963. It was surpassed by 18m (57 feet) in 1974 by the Warszawa radio mast near Konstantynow, Poland, which collapsed on August 10, 1991, making the KVLY mast again the tallest."


You've been owned by North Dakota.

AHAHAHAA! NORTH DAKOTA PRYDE, SUCKAZ! WOO!

We're number 1 up here, oh shit!
 

refreshZ

Member
I wouldn't want to be the dude in charge of putting that off-centre-directly-above-the-freakin-street-only-1/2-a-kilometre-up spike all the way up there...
 

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Here are the 25 tallest buildings in the world (under construction, proposed, built, and destroyed) going by the 'official height'. Its odd looking at something like Petronas towers that look significantly smaller than a building like Sears, even though they are considered taller..

You can also see the difference between a supertall building that has a tall roofheight and one that cheats its way to that height.

Note: many of these buildings will never see the light of day, I intentionally removed some of the really out there ones like Tower of Russia which is insanely high.

http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?6693728

Edit: I had to reinclude the tower of russia, because there is a building going up in the UAB that was being left out with the height restriction I was using.

BTW the roof height of Freedom tower is 1500 feet, the heights occupiable floor of the building will be the 10th in the world, and roughly 50 feet taller than Sears.. so it qualifies as cheating like hell to ad 276 feet to the top of the spire and 500 feet to the top of the antenna... which doesnt really matter because the UAB will have a building with a roof height neering 2000 feet finished a year before this one.
 

Bregor

Member
StoOgE said:
the UAB will have a building with a roof height neering 2000 feet finished a year before this one.

The Burj Dubai? I'm skeptical about whether that thing will ever actually get built.

(Not that it matters, the Freedom Tower will still get surpassed fairly soon anyway - Asia is on a supertall building binge currently.)
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
MrPing1000 said:
I can't believe they called it the Freedom Tower. Everytime i hear that I cringe. The UK is laughing at u :p

I just cringe, I'd laugh if it were a joke. It could've been monumentally worse, and the overall design is pretty classy compared to some of the original submissions. The silver lining is that regardless of what that one tower's called, most people are probably just going to continue to refer to the entire site as the World Trade Center, which I'm perfectly cool with.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
Bregor said:
The Burj Dubai? I'm skeptical about whether that thing will ever actually get built.

(Not that it matters, the Freedom Tower will still get surpassed fairly soon anyway - Asia is on a supertall building binge currently.)
I wouldnt doubt it. I was in dubai in february and everywhere you look shits in construction, buildings, and entire Theme park "city". Theyre trying to turn that place into a major tourist attraction, so I certainly would count on it being made.

Increidible place. i wanna go back :(
 

Slurpy

*drowns in jizz*
Bregor said:
The Burj Dubai? I'm skeptical about whether that thing will ever actually get built.

(Not that it matters, the Freedom Tower will still get surpassed fairly soon anyway - Asia is on a supertall building binge currently.)


It will be built. If an over-ambitious project has even a remote chance of being built ahywhere, its Dubai. Because they can finance it. They're creating entire islands over there in various shapes. Money isn't an issue. Where else can you find a 7-start hotel? Nowhere.
 

aparisi2274

Member
xsarien said:
I just cringe, I'd laugh if it were a joke. It could've been monumentally worse, and the overall design is pretty classy compared to some of the original submissions. The silver lining is that regardless of what that one tower's called, most people are probably just going to continue to refer to the entire site as the World Trade Center, which I'm perfectly cool with.


I am going to call it the WTC 2.0 If I ever go to the city when that is finished, I am never going to tell anyone I am going to see the Freedom tower.
 

MIMIC

Banned
- Where were you when Freedom was attacked?
- It was that one day in 2001 when the Patriot Act was swiftly passed through Congress.
- No, I meant the attack on the Freedom Tower.
- Ohhh....
 
It really really does look fucking stupid actually. The whole "evoking the Statue of Liberty" thing makes it all the more gay.

The floorless upper structure just screams "we're too shook to put occupiable space up here" and the "Planet Krypton" design just looks to clash with the surrounding architecture.

They should have just built 2 more huge fucking towers in a neo-traditional design like the one featured at www.wtc2002.com. You don't think that if they want to fuck up these new buildings they won't?? You think hundreds, maybe thousands of people won't die if they bomb these new buildings? Maybe I'm being irrational, but I just think this "empty structure" thing is half-assed..
 

Ill Saint

Member
Freedom Tower?
Wheres an animated gif of Dustin Hoffman yelling and hitting his head in 'Rainman' when you need it?
 

aparisi2274

Member
Ned Flanders said:
It really really does look fucking stupid actually. The whole "evoking the Statue of Liberty" thing makes it all the more gay.

The floorless upper structure just screams "we're too shook to put occupiable space up here" and the "Planet Krypton" design just looks to clash with the surrounding architecture.


Well what company would want to occupy space up there after what happened. Thats one of the reasons why they made a design that didnt have office space up there.
 

Belfast

Member
I've always liked this design, even with the crappy name. It reminds me of what futuristic cities should look like. It has that "Crystal Tokyo" vibe to it.
 
To me this seems like they are rushing into this, and this isn't really something that should be rushed.

Call me conspiratorial but I suspect a lot of it has to do with a certain election this year.
 

MIMIC

Banned
Die Squirrel Die said:
To me this seems like they are rushing into this, and this isn't really something that should be rushed.

Call me conspiratorial but I suspect a lot of it has to do with a certain election this year.

He got'em knocked down when he came; he's gonna have'em rebuilt when he leaves. :)
 
Bregor said:
The Burj Dubai? I'm skeptical about whether that thing will ever actually get built.

(Not that it matters, the Freedom Tower will still get surpassed fairly soon anyway - Asia is on a supertall building binge currently.)

Actually they've started construction on it.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid124/p28809e6411e6a7ac3a26da98f414761e/f819d4ae.jpg

And Dubai looks pretty impressive to me.

picture173.jpg

Picture67.jpg

ext6.jpg

^^they are serious about building that palm. It's the Palm Jumeirah

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=113973
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=93416&highlight=dubai
 

xsarien

daedsiluap
Ned Flanders said:
It really really does look fucking stupid actually. The whole "evoking the Statue of Liberty" thing makes it all the more gay.

The floorless upper structure just screams "we're too shook to put occupiable space up here" and the "Planet Krypton" design just looks to clash with the surrounding architecture.

The entire island of Manhattan is one, big architectural clash. You have brand new towers right across the street from shit built in the early 1900s.
 
picture173.jpg


What's even more amazing is how quickly that all was built. When I first moved there 16 years ago the WTC, the small white building, was just about the only thing on that stretch, and the tallest thing at that. When I left about 6 years ago there was a fair amount of buildings along there, but it was still about half empty. Non of those huge ones that dwarf the WTC were there.

But I suppose that's what cheap, non-unionised Pakistani and Indian labour will do for you
 
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