Reply With QuoteOriginally Posted by MrShakespeare
Let's hope to god they stick to that, they don't have a very good track record for time.
BTW, 2.4 MSF? Isn't that the same as FT? Maybe this one will be almost as tall (It's probably wider)
Who knew that I could get excited by such news?
Please let it capture the color of sunsets like Hearst and make a bold statement in the skyline. Please let the initial design be completed early and be so great it forces Childs back to the boards on FT. Am I asking too much here?
I wonder what bunker type street level facade this building will require. Or, was that only for the FT? Is security not a big deal for Tower 2? We okay with this building being on the street, near cars and people?
It will be interesting if Tower 2 & FT rise together. Would STARchitect Foster draw tenants - where Childs might not?
I want the Duane Reade in FT. I want the Starbucks in Tower Two. That's the real Masterplan.
Let's hope to god they stick to that, they don't have a very good track record for time.
BTW, 2.4 MSF? Isn't that the same as FT? Maybe this one will be almost as tall (It's probably wider)
Well, let's use 7WTC to figure the height of this one.
No. 7 is 750 ft. at 52 stories, so that gives us 14.4 ft/flr.
So no. 2 with 65 floors should be around 937 ft.
The question here is if Foster will be bold or will he do something understated just to be respectful to the site and to the other architects. If it's the former, then you'll get something more like what you'll normally get from him, which will be exciting. If the latter, don't be surprise with a somewhat boxy design.
A few quotes from a recent interview with Mike Bloomberg by Downtown Express:
The mayor did not refer directly to any problems Silverstein may have finding tenants to rent space in the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, where work is scheduled to start in April, but real estate executives and business leaders are worried that a high-profile building on West St., a block away from the W.T.C. train station under construction will be a harder sell than Tower 2, adjacent to the station.
“The conventional wisdom is that the towers on Church St. will be more easily rentable than the Freedom Tower,” said Kathryn Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a group made up of C.E.O.’s from the city’s largest firms. She said these buildings will have fewer security concerns.
He [Bill Rudin, president of Rudin Management, a real estate firm, recently appointed to the LMDC board by Bloomberg] said he thought large brokerage houses will be attracted to Tower 2 because they will be able to get a custom-made building with large floors. “The Freedom Tower is already designed — the floor plates are locked in,” Rudin said.
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_13...eroesinon.html
Bloomberg hints at a tenant for Tower 2....
from the Downtown Express:
Bloomberg minimized his differences in recent weeks with World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein and Gov. George Pataki, said the sensitivities from some 9/11 families and others about cultural institutions next to the proposed memorial should be extended to the entire W.T.C. site, and indicated that the developer will likely have an easier time finding tenants for Tower 2 than he will for the first office building where construction is expected to begin, the Freedom Tower.
“Larry thinks he’s close to renting a big chunk of number 7,” Bloomberg said referring to 7 W.T.C. across the street from ground zero, “and maybe even a tenant for all of number 2, which he is yet to build. Nobody hopes he does it more than I do…. He’s asked for incentives from the state and city — we’ve given him those, now he’s got to rent it.”
65 floors was the old plan, no one said it was still 65 floors.
I would expect high security for the new 2 World Trade Center to reassure prospective tenants. While 2 WTC won't have the high profile of the Freedom Tower, let's not forget that the old WTC 2 was as much a target as the old WTC 1. I hope Foster will figure out how to secure his new tower while not making the base appear like a bunker.
It would be so much wiser, simpler, etc. to restrict traffic rather than build bunkers.
The problem at 1WTC is the proximity to the West Side Hiway, where restriction of traffic is a much bigger logistical problem. Hence the bunker.
For jollies here's Foster's proposal for a WTC Memorial "Void" as part of his WTC presentation.
http://www.renewnyc.com/plan_des_dev...es/slide10.asp
Look familiar?
A design challenge on this building is going to be the "Vesey Street Stairs" aka "Survivors' Stairway" that is the only above ground remnant of the WTC and already the subject of a suit to protect it.
http://www.survivorsnet.org/announcements15.html
No one knows how tall it will be, the press isn't always right, the 65 floor figure just comes from the original libeskind site plan, it just sounds better to have something like that to say. Nothing is confirmed about tower 2 except location. And no, I would rather have a nice design than a taller building.
It'll be good idea to save those stairs by incorporating them into the future site. Remnants like these is what future generations want to see and touch more than what they're building now. A physical link to the Trade Center that is no longer.
^I agree with you. I regret that the pieces of the steel WTC facade were cut apart and not preserved. I think they would've made the best memorial.
Note that Jersey City has a memorial to 9/11 victims (JC residents) near the Goldman Sachs building and it's a bent piece of steel, I've always found that memorial to be very moving and appropriate
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