As for government gridlock, there is absolutely no excuse. However because of the size of the project, it's going to take a while for it to start to take shape.

Do you know when this tower will start growing over ground lvl?

I'm glad there was gridlock. What if everyone had barged ahead with that original twisted Libeskind nightmare scenario? Time was needed for proper perspective. This is going to be a center of finance and commerce long after people have forgotten about 9/11. No offense meant here, but I still think the memorial is too elaborate and costly. Keep in mind that in 20 years almost no one who hadn't lost someone in the attacks will care about it in the least. It will just be two large fountains to them.

^this is bolgna! i guarantee the freedom tower will be a tourist attraction forever. why would people forget about it in twenty years. people still visit pearl harbor don't they.

Please don't misunderstand. I didn't say the Freedom Tower and the other towers of the WTC won't always be a major tourist attraction. They will. I'm just not sure that the symbolism of the fountains and their association with the footprints of the Twin Towers will necessarily be appreciated deep into the future. Not to the tune of $1 billion+ dollars, anyway.

Look at Maki,... he looks like he understands how pathetic his tower is compared to Foster/Rogers towers. Why the hell was a minimalist chosen for this projecct? I hope with the news about tower 5 going to JP Morgan Maki will revise his tower to better respect Rogers tower 3.

I'm very happy about tower 5 coming into the picture though. :dancing:

You're right. However at the time, right after the mess was cleaned up, I thought the best scenario would have been just to rebuild the twin towers without hesitation. I would have rather, have had that, but since such is not the case, what we have now, that is starting to go up, as I've said before, and will say again, numerous times, it is alot better than that putrid farce, that was originally designed to go there.

I believe they will be, just like the memorial is, in Oklahoma City.

Not only that, but even if they weren't for the memorial, say somewhere in Midtown like Bryant Park, they would become as much a part of New York as Lincoln Center, Rockefeller Plaza, or Central Park. The fact that these fountains will be surrounded by other icons just make it more so.

It's not expected to rise much higher than this for a while...

http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/73101590/large.jpg


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/73101586/large.jpg

But I don't think you can see as much at the Goldman site...

^
Hooray! Vertical steel! A sight for sore eyes.

Amen.

^ Those bad days are all behind us now, nothing to stand in the way of the towers rising. In fact, towers 2, 3 and 4 would be rising already if not for the PA's delay in constructing the bath tub, which it's currently doing...

I heard that JP Morgan plans to move into Tower 5, and that it will also be a hotel as well. I thought Blooper wanted that as a residential tower.

Any truth to that, or is it just a rumor? Also, that a designer for the tower has been chosen.

all speculation. no concrete info at all has been released about t5. just conjecture on what everyone wants to be there. i dont think any real news will come out for that tower till 2008 minimum

:previous: Read NYguy's article in the WTC5 thread. Thats what it's there for.

Im sorry but I think it doesnt match the rest of the NYC skyline... 2 modern twin towers wouldve followed better in my opinion.

Just something interesting, look how similar this building under construction in madrid is: (although smaller at 850ft)

http://static.flickr.com/33/56343033_9d7cb6962a.jpg

They can have it. The Freedom Tower is much better. Sad to say, that one in Madrid looks more like one of Liebeskind's contraptions.

That's ironic, because the Twin Towers never matched the rest of the New York skyline. This tower, with its spire, is a throwback to the Empire State and Chrysler days, when spires dominated New York's skyline.

Since the PA's last agreement with Silverstein, they have been talking of building an office tower on site 5. I don't know anything about an architect though...
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=123656