With all the recent concern about when the Port Authority will turn the eastern bathtub over to Larry Silverstein to build his Towers 3 and 4 at the World Trade Center site, we'd almost forgotten about the Freedom Tower. While foundation work trudges along, our attention turns skyward, to the building's 408-foot spire that will bring the Freedom Tower's overall height to 1776 feet. While architect David Childs has toyed with various versions of the antenna design, what we see above right is what we're gonna get, per Steve Cuozzo today:
It was suggested that the final antenna design would be more "sculptural" than the original image, and later sketches and models sported various curlicued motifs. But Childs says those ideas, which exposed the actual antenna to the air, were impractical... The more open designs would cause "rain to turn to ice, which would break and fall," and also make the antenna impossible to maintain at such a height. So it was back to the original notion, which called for a top-to-bottom hood enclosing the actual broadcast spire.In related news, the antenna—like the office floors before it—still has no confirmed tenants. C'mon, folks, get moving—2015 is a mere seven years away!
· Faltering Tower [NYPost]
· Freedom Tower's Spire Really Getting Trippy [Curbed]