[NYguy]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

[indent]First: If you don't like it, what are you actively doing about it?

About as much as we can smart guy.

Originally Posted by Blaze23

I don't mean to pile up on the criticism of this tower, but I've watched plenty of videos of the beacon and it reinforces what i saw on friday, it's not that visible! At least not as it was portrayed to be and definitely not even close to that of the Eiffel tower. Maybe it wasn't fully powered. And you're totally right UTEPman, they need to light up that ring to bring a semblance of coherence on top.

I'm guessing they weren't really ready for a full unveiling. That would explain a lot. But it turns out the one thing I was looking forward to seeing may not be at all (see videos below).

Originally Posted by NYguy

Anway, relive the spire animations from the past here...
http://www.lowermanhattan.info/const...wer_26204.aspx
under "Nighttime Flyby" and "Timeline".

Originally Posted by The North One

I don't know wether I'll laugh or cry if Trump tower ends up being taller than this building.
But I guess that's what they get for being cheapskates.

Back when this issue first came about, neither the Port Authority nor the Durst Organization had any concerns about being the taller tower. My guess is that the marketing department realized the value of being the "tallest in the land", and since it was within reach, they decided to go for it in earnest. This was probably reinforced more by the fact that if this tower can't top the Sears, then it won't even top 432 Park, the Nordstrom tower, and who knows what else in Manhattan. They are probably alarmed by the fact that this building won't be top dog in New York, it takes away some of the luster. It would still be the tallest office tower in the city, but even the Hudson Yards north tower will have a higher occupied space. A lot is riding on that mast giving this tower a considerable height boost.

And speaking of Trump Tower, we now get back to what I think is an important issue, being overshadowed by the spire nonsense:


http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune....ng-height.html
Trump's tower is now world's sixth tallest as council changes standards for tall building height

Blair Kamin
November 17, 2009

Donald Trump's just-completed Trump International Hotel & Tower just leaped from the world's seventh tallest building to the world's sixth tallest. And the New York developer hasn't done a thing to change the Chicago skyscraper.

The reason for the shift: The Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the global arbiter of height standards, has changed its criteria for measuring skyscrapers.

The old standard was that a skyscraper's height was determined by calculating the distance from the sidewalk outside the main entrance to the building's spire or structural top.

The new standard is that height is measured from "the lowest, significant, open-air, pedestrian entrance" to the top.

For the Trump tower, this means an extra 27 feet in height. Its bottom is now considered to be the entrance to the still-unoccupied shops along the along the Chicago riverwalk, not the main entrance on Wabash Ave.

We'll see if this is reversed, or if the ruling stands.


http://commercialobserver.com/2013/1...er-weismantle/
Measuring Up with Peter Weismantle

By Al Barbarino
11/05/13

How will you measure 1 World Trade Center?

We don’t go out with a tape measure [laughs]. There’s going to be a meeting here in Chicago. We’re going to convene with the Height Committee, and SOM is going to make a presentation. For a normal building, there’s a form to fill out, and, in certain cases, where there is a question, we ask that they accompany the form with some drawings. In this case, because of the controversy—Is it an antennae? Is it a spire? And then, of course, the measuring point: Is it measured from the Vesey Street side or from another entrance?—we’re asking Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to make that presentation so we can deliberate and take a vote.

What will it come down to?

There are two issues. One: Is it an antennae or not? And two: From which point should the building be measured? There are entrances all around the building, and the ground isn’t flat. That will be part of the presentation.

Everyone involved in the development of this saga has placed themselves in a difficult position. That includes the CTBUH, SOM, the PA, Durst, and everyone else who played a role in it.