WTC Tower One - by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

[Christopher X]

no punchline except that for the last two years, in the last few days before Christmas, the Governor has delighted us with jokes.

Oh, I see. That's not a bad public presentation policy-fall through spring only. The summer humidity tends to fertilize my disagreeable side. Sides.

[Agglomeration]

To be frank with all of you, I've never liked the Freedom Tower, and after hearing this I like it even less now. :roll:

WorldNetDaily

Buddhist prayer wheel to top new WTC?
Engineer wants spiritual gesture to replace area once filled with death

Posted: January 10, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/artic...RTICLE_ID=36538

An engineer working on plans for the 1,776-foot-high replacement for the World Trade Center in New York wants the wind turbines at the top to serve as Buddhist prayer wheels, "cycling through mantras of peace."

Guy Battle, who's overseeing the wind farm for the planned Freedom Tower, calls it a spiritual gesture to replace the same airy reaches filled with death on Sept. 11, 2001, reports the Village Voice.

The paper explained Tibetan Buddhists write the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" many times over on thin papers and enclose them within cylinders called mani, which are also inscribed with the mantra.

"These spin on an axle, continuously repeating the prayer," writes the Village Voice's Erik Baard. "The words aren't directly translatable, but they invoke blessings from Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion."

Battle's proposal has not been ruled on yet by Architect David M. Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, master planner Daniel Libeskind and developer Larry Silverstein, the paper said.

The turbines are expected to provide a fifth of the building's needed electricity.

"They are simple generators, but they can be somehow linked with the memorial," Battle said. "People could even put prayers on the propellers."

Baard writes: "A reflection of mourning, forgiveness, and hope open to all faiths and ethical traditions would give real meaning to the skyscraper's somewhat stilted name. Imagine if, from miles away in any direction, you could look to that skyscraper and know that within its ethereal, translucent summit was a testament to our better selves, our shared prayers."

The Village Voice writer continues: "That is the architecture of who we are as a people. And coincidentally, the northwesterly winds turning those prayer wheels would follow the same glinting line of the Hudson River that the planes of 9-11 used as a flight path to murder. It's the kind of gentle defiance that would drive al-Qaida mad."

[NYguy]

Here's a larger scan of the memorial with the Freedom Tower...

[Jasonik]

The way the canted Southeast corner line extends to the top of the spire works well from this angle. Maybe there could be a spire on the opposite (NW) corner for a similar effect from the North.

Imagine twin spires, one with an antenna....

[ZippyTheChimp]

From this view, I don't think that the slanted roof works well with the level roof of the lattice.

[TonyO]

Its hard to tell from the B&W rendering but Dey St. looks to be still closed off in the color one.

[JMGarcia]

From this view, I don't think that the slanted roof works well with the level roof of the lattice.

From any angle, the slanted roof does not work well with the level roof of the cabled area.

A building that has the vertical angles, twist, and taper of this tower really needs something other than a flat top. Unfortunately, this is typical of Childs in that he never quite follows through thoroughly with his ideas, sometimes quite good, by adding the necessary finishing touches.

I happen to agree with Muschamp in this case. He comes close but the "miracle" never quite happens. In a way that is more frustrating than if his designs were just mundane through and through.

[Kris]

http://renewnyc.org/images_WMS/memor...rial_large.jpg

[ZippyTheChimp]

Nice image.

Tonyo, it clearly shows Dey St still closed, but the rendering shows Libeskinds original transportation hub which was to be attached to the office tower.

Sometimes forgotten, the tower to replace Deutsche Bank is to be sited further south in line with Cedar St, creating the park on the south side of Liberty St.

[radical overemphasis]

The above design is not as grotesque as the one with the giant wall-building on the west street side.

[emmeka]

you can say that again. that thing was an eyesaw.

[NYguy]

Its hard to tell from the B&W rendering but Dey St. looks to be still closed off in the color one.

You won't see those changes until the design for the new Transit Center is revealed.

[NYguy]

A building that has the vertical angles, twist, and taper of this tower really needs something other than a flat top. Unfortunately, this is typical of Childs in that he never quite follows through thoroughly with his ideas, sometimes quite good, by adding the necessary finishing touches.

Don't forget that the tower was cut short, and this is NOT the top that was originally planned for the tower, but one that was forced on by Libeskind and the governor.

In other news, I was looking at the model of the memorial presentation on television, and tower #2 is VERY impressive - more so than the Freedom Tower in a sense. I'm already looking forward to more designs...

[JMC]

Where's Century 21?!?!

Where am I supposed to my my socks?!

[JMGarcia]

Don't forget that the tower was cut short, and this is NOT the top that was originally planned for the tower, but one that was forced on by Libeskind and the governor.

True, but it was still flat and that doesn't work with the twist and taper to well whether its lower or higher.

In any case, IMO its not only the spire that doesn't work with the flat top its the angled office roof. Like it or not, if they are going to add a spire and an angled office roof then the top of the cabled area needs to change too.

BTW, the design for the transit center will be revealed Jan. 22 - next week.