Posted September 7, 200618 yr this is hot off the blogworld press. the neighboring buildings to the wtc freedom tower in downtown manhattan were just announced. fav reaction quotes below? "ray nagin was right," "where's howard roarke when you need him?" and the inevitable dallas, chicago, office park & hong kong comparisons. so here are the renderings via curbed: BREAKING: Freedom Tower's Friends Come Out to Play Thursday, September 7, 2006, by Lockhart Let's take a closer look at the just-announced designs for Freedom's Friends at the World Trade Center Site, shall we. David Dunlap observes, "It may look like an instance of urban randomness." True, that—and yet, on first blush, we're quite taken with the group. TOWER 2 Architect: Norman Foster Design Concept: 78 stories (taller, in height, than the Empire State Building). Four diamonds on the roof slant to the memorial below. Probably architecurally superior to the Freedom Tower, begging the question of how Childs let it slip through. In a Word: Bling! TOWER 3 Architect: Richard Rogers Design Concept: 71 stories. Beams form a trippy exposed framework. The longer we stare at it, the more we're drawn in. Oddly compelling. In a Word: Skeletal! TOWER 4 Architect: Fumihiko Maki Design Concept: 61 stories that strike us as surprisingly bland despite its parallelogram-cum-trapezoid scheme. Writes Dunlap, "The upper part of the facade inclines toward the towers to the north and is meant as a unifying gesture." Um, okay. In a Word: Blah! more chatter + links here: http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/09/07/breaking_freedom_towers_friends_come_out_to_play.php http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/09/07/freedoms_friends_the_curbed_instant_guide.php
September 8, 200618 yr "The upper part of the facade inclines toward the towers to the north and is meant as a unifying gesture." Yeah thats the first thing I thought about when viewing the 4th tower :roll:
September 8, 200618 yr Tower 2 reminds me of that "diamond" building in Chicago, just steroided and multiplied by 4. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 8, 200618 yr I enjoy how the grouping of buildings creates a negative space within, instilling a quieting void, as if to suggest the imminent upthrusting of a proudly-raised middle finger.
September 8, 200618 yr some more bloggy reactions here: Following up on yesterday's twin Curbed threads, and this morning's linkage, about the fresh fresh designs for Towers 3, 4, and 5 at the World Trade Center site, a look at some of the critical commentary swirling in the ether... 1) Tropolism: "Rogers: also known as a smaller and easier to maintain Hongkong and Shanghai Bank. With a little Bank of China in there. Thanks Foster and Pei for the idea! Boldly x-bracing on the exterior. Totally haven't seen that before. Really bold." 2) James Gardner, NYSun: "Yet, none of them is bad — which is already something in New York — and each demonstrates a certain grace and distinction." 3) Archinect boards: "Architecture in this country has no chance until these goons die off. Hopefully the next generation of American architects is smart enough not to follow down the same path of uninspired dreck and bold enough to demand for and politically provide an architecture and urbanism that responds to the very dire needs of American society." Reader Comments (9 extant) 1. These building would be nice if they were in say, Houston or LA, but here they're entirely unremarkable here. And that whole diagonal diamond thing is the WORST- it just multiplies the much unloved design of that one building in Chicago (the one no one knows the name of...). And what's up with chopping off the top one for the antennae? UGLY. Mark my words, we'll be looking back with regret at what could have been. Too bad. I guess we'll just let Chicago keep the most impressive skyline in the world... By opinionated at September 8, 2006 11:24 AM2. I changed my mind. I misspoke, or spoke too soon. I didn't mean to say that Chicago's skyline was the most impressive in the world, or even more impressive than New York's. How can it be when New York's is probably about 3.5 times the length and includes islands and bridges that offer an unmatched environment? I just meant Chicago has a dozen or so buildings that are truly unique whereas we only have about 10 or so and such our skyline is so much more powerful and so much bigger they tend to get lost in the mix. And i didn't mean to say "in the world..." I've just never thought about anything outside of the U.S. since I've never left Staten Island. I'm sure there are adozen Asian cities alone at this point more impressive than Chicago... By opinionated at September 8, 2006 11:47 AM3. why is danny even in that picture? By rockitect at September 8, 2006 11:47 AM4. they needed a cute midget whipping boy. By Anonymous at September 8, 2006 11:55 AM5. unispired dreck is right. That diamond one is reallly sh!tty. By papercutninja at September 8, 2006 12:08 PM6. daniel's standing on a stool. he's not that tall. By danny devito at September 8, 2006 12:21 PM7. Opinionated, what original towers does Chicago have? Hancock, fine. Sears, ok, but it's hideous. Meanwhile, NY has hundreds of more pre-war skyscrapers than Chicago, ALL of which are original. NY had the first international style tower, the first post modern tower, and I believe Foster's tower will be one of the first "futuristic towers" a new breed of skyscraper. Chicago with a better skyline than New York? Give me a break. Chicago's is 2 dimensional. Walk around New York and there's just towers every which way. Some people will never be f$&kin pleased. 3 towers over 1,150 feet, all with great designs. What more do you want? By hi at September 8, 2006 1:18 PM8. New York has: AIG Building, Woolworth Building, Chrystler, the Municipal Building, the Empire, Metlife, GE Building(the original), Rockefeller, Citicorp.... the list goes on. Chicago has the Sears and John Hancock tower and? Granted their building have the freedom of space and actually receive sunlight but NY def has more note worthy buildings that Chicago (minus the freedom towers of course). By Anonymous at September 8, 2006 1:25 PM9. Most disappointing is tower 5. yawn! By critical_i at September 8, 2006 1:47 PM http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/09/08/freedoms_friends_the_instareviews.php Reader Comments (1 extant) 1. Yes, this tower is already in the Dallas skyline. Albeit much short and all glass but same shape. Great, just what we need, a Texas building in NY. No wonder this rebuilding process has taken so long. Bush is involved!!! By Anonymous at September 8, 2006 1:34 PM
September 8, 200618 yr Tower 4 reminds me of that "diamond" building in Chicago, just steroided and multiplied by 4. I think you mean tower 2 :-D
September 8, 200618 yr I find it really interesting to read these reactions. The Twin Towers were chided by everyone in the archetecture world when they were built and I'm seeing a lot of the exact same reactions.
September 8, 200618 yr Tower 4 reminds me of that "diamond" building in Chicago, just steroided and multiplied by 4. I think you mean tower 2 :-D Good catch! My bad! Edited. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 12, 200618 yr some more commentary today: Freedom's Friends: Inevitable Critical Backlash Edition Monday, September 11, 2006, by Lockhart -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Following Friday's insta-reviews and reader vote (current tally: 61.6% for, 38.4% against), two august architectural critics weigh in on the three towers proposed for the World Trade Center site... 1) Nikolai Ourousoff, NYTimes: "The designs rise above the mediocrity we have come to expect... But for those who cling to the idea that the site’s haunting history demands a leap of imagination, the towers illustrate how low our expectations have sunk since the city first resolved to rebuild there in a surge of determination just weeks after 9/11." 2) The Guttersniper, The Gutter*: "Yes, it is passing strange that Lord Foster's design should so closely mimic the idiot blanks of Danny's master plan and not his own spire circa 2003. Yes, Richard Rogers' busybee trusselated mass should be aborted post haste. Sure, Fumihiko Maki's tower is a straight rip of that triangular thing at 53rd and Lex that is already a sad homage to its noble Midtown neighbor, Citicorp. But the real action, as ever, is elsewhere." Reader Comments (1 extant) 1. how i wish someone would've decided to rebuild the twin towers on a different footprint within the site. leaving the original footprints as a memorial.... By anon at September 11, 2006 7:23 PM
November 17, 200618 yr some good news that sure caught me off guard. construction of the freedom tower has begun: Workers created a steel cage that will support elevators and stairwells when construction of the Freedom Tower begins tomorrow. Officials in New York said Wednesday that progress has sped up in rebuilding the World Trade Center site, devastated on 9/11.
December 17, 200618 yr some more good news today via gothamist blog: December 16, 2006 Freedom Tower Beams at Battery Park City In another sign that progress is being made at the World Trade Center site, the first of the steel beams to be used in the building of the Freedom Tower will be on display at Battery Park City tomorrow. Starting at 10 a.m. relatives of 9/11 victims and first responders will be able to sign the thirty-ton beam. Between noon and 3 p.m. the public will be allowed to also sign the beam, which will be at the intersection of North End Avenue and Murray Street. In other World Trade Center news, Welles Crowther, who died in the September 11th attacks, was awarded the title of honorary firefighter by the FDNY yesterday. This is the first time the Fire Department has given the honor posthumously. Crowther, an equities trader who was considering quitting his job to join the Fire Department, rescued at least five people before perishing. Among those he saved was Ling Young, whom he escorted down twenty flights of stairs after she was badly burned. "Once he figured out we were okay, he went back up," according to Young. Photo of World Trade Center beams being shipped to America by Joe Woolhead courtesy of Silverstein Properties.
December 18, 200618 yr the first steel beams have arrived and were signed by families: WTC Coverage Public Signs Freedom Tower Beam December 17, 2006 As workers prepare to install the first steel beams of the Freedom Tower this week, members of the public were given a chance to leave their mark this weekend. With steady hands and heavy hearts, dozens of 9/11 families, first responders and members of the general public signed messages of love and remembrance Sunday on a steel beam on display in Battery Park City that will become part of the Freedom Tower. The nearly 35-foot beam will not be visible once the 1,776 foot building is complete, but those gathered were still eager to leave their mark. video here: http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=203&aid=65156 edit: i found a cool pic here:
September 7, 200717 yr cue the 'dallas' tv show theme :-P more here: http://curbed.com/archives/2007/09/06/breaking_wtc_final_designs_the_whole_enchilada.php#more tower 2 (norman foster) more: http://curbed.com/archives/2007/09/06/wtc_final_designs_tower_2s_glazed_crystalline_form.php tower 3 (sir richard rodgers) more: http://curbed.com/archives/2007/09/06/wtc_final_designs_tower_3_will_step_all_over_you.php tower 4 (maki and associates) the link: http://curbed.com/archives/2007/09/06/wtc_final_designs_tower_4s_abstract_sculptural_presence.php
September 7, 200717 yr here's a video news link too: http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=73316 Silverstein Unveils Final Designs For Three WTC Site Towers September 06, 2007 The final designs for Towers Two, Three and Four at the World Trade Center site were unveiled at the 7 World Trade Center today, less than one week before the sixth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Developer Larry Silverstein and a group of architects unveiled the final, updated designs for the three buildings, which are scheduled to begin construction in January.
September 7, 200717 yr ^ yeah and that building in chicago too. the ny post had a good graphic about what is going on down there now:
September 7, 200717 yr Thanks for posting this. I wonder why there is nothing about this in the mainstream media? Nothing on CNN or Drudge.
September 7, 200717 yr Definitely not getting an NYC vibe from these designs, but more progress is needed on the site.
September 7, 200717 yr Thanks for posting these from the curbed.com website (ain't that the coolest site). I like the slickness of some of the designs, like Tower 2. But what a 180 degree turn from the Libeskind master plan. That master plan tried to coordinate the individual towers into a larger urban design. These towers just do their own thing and ignore their neighbors. And my favorite comment so far from curbed was "We waited six years and they copied downtown Houston?".
September 7, 200717 yr Funny, but yes, it looks like Downtown Houston or Dallas. And my those are some big $$$ numbers there. A $2 billion transit hub?! Total rebuilding cost of $16-17 billion? Wow!
September 7, 200717 yr I love these designs. The modernity and stark nature of the former World Trade Center was first criticized as being too harsh and boring, in comparison to the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building, but the innovative design soon caught on. Same goes with other major buildings, and I believe that this design will appeal to most peoples tastes over time. If you haven't been to the former World Trade Center site, it is well worth the visit to view the enormous footprint that was destroyed.
September 7, 200717 yr Pretty boring designs. I'm glad somebody said it. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
September 9, 200717 yr Congrats on preserving the complete lack of human scale. (i realize that's a bit hard to do with a super tall, but still)
September 9, 200717 yr Congrats on preserving the complete lack of human scale. (i realize that's a bit hard to do with a super tall, but still) I don't know what you're talking about. Those ants look perfectly to scale.
September 12, 200717 yr I kind of like the cladding shown on the building, but that lobby looks like a mess. Nothing like seeing a frantic mess of vertical circulation as you set foot into your office building.
September 10, 200816 yr FYI: Getting ready to post an article on the World Trade Center site and noticed that there are two other threads here in Arch & Pres relating to WTC updates... 1) "wtc freedom tower's neighboring building renderings unveiled today" at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,10370.0.html and 2) "wtc: detailed final renderings released today" at http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,14040.msg217438.html#msg217438
September 10, 200816 yr The upcoming 7th anniversary of 9/11 has been on my mind and I came across this article today. One of the deans of architecture critics blasts the World Trade Center site rebuilding process. New York's 9/11 Site Needed Not a Moses but a Logue By ADA LOUISE HUXTABLE, WALL STREET JOURNAL August 27, 2008 As we approach the seventh anniversary of 9/11, it is clear that the rebuilding of Ground Zero has failed. A recent editorial column in this newspaper by Daniel Henninger made the sad and insightful observation that even the coming together inspired by that awful event came apart as the process itself unraveled. He called the rebuilding arguably the greatest political and bureaucratic fiasco in the history of the world. I would carry that indictment further. I would say that this has probably been the greatest planning fiasco in the history of the world. Daniel Libeskind's prize-winning design, a flexible, schematic concept that established a framework of achievable, creative possibilities, has been progressively purged by political pandering and economic pragmatism. The Port Authority's own brutally detailed report earlier this year gave some cogent reasons why a strong, unified vision of civic and urban renewal on a plane worthy of a great city could not survive. These ranged from jurisdictional conflicts of the multiple agencies involved to the project's sheer logistical complexity. Read more at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121979742485374943.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
September 10, 200816 yr ^ And also with Ms. Huxtable's opinion piece was an excellent interactive graphic of the World Trade Center site featuring past, present and future projects. Link: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-launch.html?project=9_11_2007&w=870&h=530
September 10, 200816 yr And an update on the 9/11 Museum and memorial plaza design... Latest Design for 9/11 Museum Merges Old and New By DAVID W. DUNLAP, THE NEW YORK TIMES Published: September 9, 2008 The latest of several designs for a cultural building at ground zero, was unveiled at a news conference on Tuesday as the seventh anniversary of 9/11 approached. The pavilion will serve as the entrance to the subterranean exhibition galleries of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center. As the only part of the museum that is above ground, the pavilion will be highly visible from the surrounding streets and from the landscaped memorial plaza and pools that will wrap around it on three sides. The new design for the memorial plaza at the World Trade Center site, with the entry pavilion to the museum at top center. Two trident columns from the original twin towers are to be incorporated into the atrium to convey fortitude, designers say. Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/nyregion/10memorial.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
September 11, 200816 yr Here's another interactive World Trade Center redevelopment map from the Wall Street Journal online. A 3-D map showing the changing skyline of Lower Manhattan from current to 2012. LINK: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/info-launch08.html?project=WTC_ANNIV08
September 11, 200816 yr One of my best friends lives at Rector and Greenwich so I go down that way a bit, it's tough to walk past it on a random Saturday afternoon let alone today..
September 19, 200816 yr from wired ny -- freedom tower going up -- sept 12th, 2008 another angle from ssp -- sept 8th, 2008
October 2, 200816 yr via curbed blog -- here's the latest update on the wtc timetable: Ladies & Gentlemen, Your New and Improved WTC Timetable! (Results Not Guaranteed.) Thursday, October 2, 2008, by Joey The Port Authority issued its long-awaited report setting a new road map for the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, the ass-kicking, name-taking final say on when our city's great shame will be replaced by memorials, museums, trains and gleaming glass towers filled with worker bees of uncertain employment. Now, the issued press release just deals with the parts of the plan the Port Authority is in charge of (Freedom Tower, Santiago Calatrava's PATH station, the extension of Greenwich Street, etc.), but it is believed that developer Larry Silverstein will deliver Towers 3 and 4 in 2012, and Tower 2 (the diamondy one) a year later. On to the details! September 11, 2011: As previously reported, the aim is to have the September 11 Memorial open for the tenth anniversary of the attacks. According to the PA, "To make this commitment, the Port Authority developed a construction solution that allows the roof of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub’s mezzanine to be built first instead of last as had been originally programmed. That roof will serve as the floor of the Memorial Plaza and allow the project to be accelerated." 2012: The Vehicle Security Center, the underground access point for the commercial development on the site and one of the tricky projects that has been holding everything back, will be completed between the first and third quarters of 2012. 2012: The new Greenwich Street, "the front door to Towers 2, 3 and 4, and a key access point to the Memorial" will be completed between the second and fourth quarters of 2012. Hey, that's ahead of schedule! 2013: The underground September 11 Museum will be completed between the first and second quarters of 2013. 2013: One World Trade Center, aka the Freedom Tower, is scheduled for completion between the second and fourth quarters of 2013. 2013-2014: Oh, Santiago. The World Trade Center Transportation Hub will be completed between the fourth quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014 (we'll go ahead and assume 2014), at a cost of $3.2 billion. By the way, that's more expensive than the Freedom Tower, which will cost $3.1 billion. And there you have it. One thing that seems to be forgotten is the Frank Gehry-designed Performing Arts building, the white block between the Freedom Tower and Tower 2 in the model shot above. Did they just kill the thing, or is that crazy GehryTheaterTrain idea across the street still in play? Oh, and then there's the Fulton Transit Hub, and whatever's going up when the Deutsche Bank Building comes down, and—oh, forget it. Port Authority, it's your moment, baby! · World Trade Center Redevelopment Coverage [Curbed] http://curbed.com/archives/2008/10/02/ladies_gentlemen_your_new_and_improved_wtc_timetable_results_not_guaranteed.php#more
October 9, 200816 yr I want the old one back! The new designs are a friggin disaster! WTC and NYC during a happier time:
November 30, 200816 yr Seeing the Trade Center Galleria, in Natural Light By DAVID W. DUNLAP , THE NEW YORK TIMES Published: November 23, 2008 Since summer, daylight has bathed the galleria of the new World Trade Center, pouring through the five-and-a-half-foot intervals between its rounded steel arches and creating a modernist version of the ancient, roofless hypostyle halls of Egypt. It is a vision that the architects never intended, since the galleria — an east-west passageway connecting the World Trade Center Transportation Hub to Battery Park City — is far below street level. Workers will soon lay down steel roof decking along 250 feet of the galleria, permanently cutting it off from the elements. Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/nyregion/24rebuild.html Slideshow: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/11/25/nyregion/24arches_index.html
November 30, 200816 yr Four part special report on the World Trade Center site from Curbed.com: Part One - The Freedom Tower: http://curbed.com/archives/2008/11/24/curbed_inside_wtc_edition_1_freedom_tower_rises.php Part Two - Calatrava's PATH Terminal: http://curbed.com/archives/2008/11/24/wtc_special_report_2_calatravas_hub_of_burning_bills.php Part Three - Inside the Bathtub (9/11 Memorial & Museum): http://curbed.com/archives/2008/11/25/wtc_special_report_3_inside_the_bathtub.php Part Four - Et Cetera: http://curbed.com/archives/2008/11/25/wtc_special_report_4_et_cetera_et_cetera.php
February 12, 200916 yr p...r...o....g...r...e...s...s....ZZzzzz :| The Port Authority delivers the annotated photo seen above, which means that—hold on, abacus break— structural steel for the Freedom Tower (aka 1 World Trade Center) is now over 100 feet high. Huzzah! Only 1,676 more feet and four more years to go. · Image Gallery: 2/11/09 [Port Authority] · Freedom Tower coverage [Curbed] http://curbed.com/archives/2009/02/12/freedom_tower_joins_the_century_club.php
February 13, 200916 yr A photo found here: http://flickr.com/photos/fimoculous/3271515087/sizes/l/ Is probably the first I've seen where the construction site actually makes some sense. That long white concrete thing stretching across the site is where the transit center is. There will of course be buildings beyond it eventually. The steel in the center is where the memorial is. You can actually see that square of decking missing where the water at the bottom of the fountain goes down into the hole. To the far left you see the WTC under construction.
March 29, 200916 yr from 3/17/09. i started in front of century 21 and walked around the wtc site clockwise. deutsche bank steel being moved...i know hard to believe, but there you go a peek into the pit from the southside there it is, the freedom tower going up whoops, pardon me...make that one world trade center http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090327/us_nm/us_usa_freedomtower this is the northern temporary pedestrian flyover closeup of the freedom tower from the flyover walkway :-o temporary path train station on the north side crazy crowded after work! last up -- bmcc's equally wrecked fiterman hall is less well known that deutsche bank
March 29, 200916 yr Deustche Bank is coming down, correct? I first saw the area after the attack I think in November or early December and remember white dust still covering most of the buildings but maybe most strikingly the Deutsche Bank building because it was all black. The really weird thing was seeing none other than Britney Spears, in her prime, getting her photo taken with some girl scouts or some tour group like that a block away.
March 30, 200916 yr a) So happy they went with 1 WTC, not Freedom Tower. b) I had a meeting last Thursday at the Amex Tower, sitting in a conference room, I looked out at the WTC site and didn't think anything of it.. a minute or so later it hit me, amazing how it has just because a part of New Yorkers daily lives, don't really think about it anymore.
March 30, 200916 yr a) So happy they went with 1 WTC, not Freedom Tower. b) I had a meeting last Thursday at the Amex Tower, sitting in a conference room, I looked out at the WTC site and didn't think anything of it.. a minute or so later it hit me, amazing how it has just because a part of New Yorkers daily lives, don't really think about it anymore. I wouldn't say that is true. I think people continue to go on with their everyday lives but that is a huge scar on the minds of NYers. You weren't here at that time and it was scary. My old boss lives on S.E.A. and thinks about it everyday. I've gone to meetings in that very same building and think about the staff meeting we were thinking of having at WOtW and the Music Video we shot in the area that led down to the Path Train Station. It still creeps me out!
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