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The Freedom Tower is the building that will be at the center of the building complex that will replace the World Trade Center in New York. The design for the Freedom Tower was announced in December 2003, after months of negotiations between Daniel Libeskind, the architect who won the original design competition, and David Childs, a second architect who was brought in by Larry Silverstein, the property developer who holds the lease to the WTC site. Silverstein brought in the second team because he felt that there was not enough office space in Libeskind's original design. The plan for the Freedom Tower is a compromise between the two teams of architects.
As in Libeskind's original plan, the Freedom Tower will be 1776 feet tall (541.4 meters), to commemorate the year in which the United States declared its independence, making it the tallest skyscraper in the world. In consonance with Childs' revisions, the tower will include an unoccupied section at the top that will house broadcast antennae and windmills capable of generating 20% of the building's energy. The design of the twisting glass and steel tower is intended to evoke the Statue of Liberty, with a 276-foot spire resembling her torch. The building will have 70 stories of office space, restaurants on the 71st and 72nd floors, and a viewing platform on the 73rd floor. Safety features in the building will include blast resistant glaze on the glass in the lobby and separate staircases for firefighters.
On July 4, 2004, a 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed with the words "the enduring spirit of freedom" was laid at the WTC site as the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower. Completion of the tower is scheduled for 2009, and four more towers are to be built in the complex between 2009 and 2015.
Last updated: July 20, 2004.
