One World Trade Center is nearing completion, and New York magazine archicritic Justin Davidson recently took a hardhat tour to the top of the under-construction building and the Santiago Calatrava-designed transportation hub. In his printed piece, Davidson says the whole "complex exudes geometric cool" and notes that "fear and defiance gave us the bulked-up Tower One," which, at 1,776-feet, is officially the tallest tower in the western hemisphere. A new video takes us on the tour with Davidson, who voices notable awe at the "enormous, massive, dense concrete wall" that surrounds the base of the building. But the amazement doesn't carry over to the building as a whole: "If you've been following the history of this site, is it what it might have been? Is it the architecturally great vision for the future city? No, I don't think so. But it is the restoration of an area that really has to function on many, many different levels. I'm impressed by the way all these different aspects of the site have, or are starting, to come together."
· A Visit to the Top of the World Trade Center [NYM]
· One World Trade Center coverage [Curbed]
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