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Freedom Tower Redux

A brand new Freedom Tower design has been unveiled and along with it, a new raft of shiny CG renderings.

After pleas from the NYPD based on safety concerns, Governor Pataki ordered the redesign last month.  So what's changed?

"Gone are the asymmetrical spire, torqued form, parallelogram floor plan, energy-producing windmills, suspension cables, lacy facade and open-air arcade."

So... the ugly, pseudo-futuristic ataxia that was destined to be to future generations what geodesic domes and the Queens Worlds Fair grounds are to us?

*Phew*

Total square footage is still roughly 2.6 million and the symbolic overall height remains 1,776 feet.

The water-white glass curtain wall building will sit atop an "almost impermeable and impregnable 200-foot concrete and steel pedestal" to house the building's 8-story lobby and mechanical equipment.  This, in addition to its being scooted further away from West Street, has allayed worries of susceptibility to car bombers and other surface-level threats.
 
SlantPoint opines.

Watch the new Freedom Tower slideshow.

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Freedom Tower Redux

A brand new Freedom Tower design has been unveiled and along with it, a new raft of shiny CG renderings.

After pleas from the NYPD based on safety concerns, Governor Pataki ordered the redesign last month.  So what's changed?

"Gone are the asymmetrical spire, torqued form, parallelogram floor plan, energy-producing windmills, suspension cables, lacy facade and open-air arcade."

So... the ugly, pseudo-futuristic ataxia that was destined to be to future generations what geodesic domes and the Queens Worlds Fair grounds are to us?

*Phew*

Total square footage is still roughly 2.6 million and the symbolic overall height remains 1,776 feet.

The water-white glass curtain wall building will sit atop an "almost impermeable and impregnable 200-foot concrete and steel pedestal" to house the building's 8-story lobby and mechanical equipment.  This, in addition to its being scooted further away from West Street, has allayed worries of susceptibility to car bombers and other surface-level threats.
 
SlantPoint opines.

Watch the new Freedom Tower slideshow.