Freedom Tower renamed as One World Trade Center is the main building of the rebuilt World Trade Center Complex in Lower Manhattan area of the New York City. The scintillating tower is a landmark structure designed by David Magie Childs of SOM – Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the tallest in the United States of America. It holds the sixth place among the tallest building in the world.
These amazing pictures of the iconic structure are the works of Fotografia di S A T P A L. It is interesting to note that all these magnificent frames have been shot while on the move.
The supertall building was destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. One World Trade Center stands on the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade Center site, on the site of the original 6 World Trade Center. The building is surrounded by West Street to the west, Vesey Street to the north, Fulton Street to the south, and Washington Street to the east.
On the 27th of April 2006, the construction of below-ground utility relocations, footings, and foundations for the new building were commenced. On the 30th of April 2012, One World Trade Center became the tallest structure in New York City. It surpassed the height of the Empire State Building.
On the 30th of August 2012, One World Trade Center’s steel structure was topped out. The final component of the skyscraper’s spire was installed on the 10th of May 2013. The building reached a total height of 1,776 feet (541 m), including its spire. On the 3rd of November 2014, the building opened and One World Observatory was opened on the 29th of May 2015.
It is interesting to note that a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan had introduced the ‘framed tube design’ during the 1960s. One World Trade Center was designed using Fazlur Rahman Khan’s ‘framed tube design’ as framed tube structures. The structural marvel made it possible to give tenants open floor plans, unobstructed by columns or walls.
The design provided much of the structure’s strength with the gravity load shared with the core columns. It was accomplished by using many closely spaced perimeter columns. The elevator system made use of sky lobbies and a system of express and local elevators, allowed substantial floor space to be used for office purposes by making the structural core smaller.
Innovative techniques were involved during the designing and construction of the towers, such as wind tunnel experiments and the slurry wall for digging the foundation. Elements of Islamic architecture in the building’s design were incorporated by Yamasaki, who is renowned for previously designing Saudi Arabia’s Dhahran International Airport with the Saudi Binladin Group.
Fotografia di S A T P A L has brilliantly captured inaccessible angles of the supertall structure. Each angle reflects an intriguing characteristic of One World Trade Centre’s architectural and engineering aspects.
In February 2007, the initial construction cost of the tower was estimated at about $3 billion. By 2012, cost of construction escalated to $3.9 billion, thereby making it the most expensive building in the world at that time.
Intended to compare with selected elements of the contemporary New York skyline, One World Trade Center’s final design consisted of simple symmetries and a more traditional profile. The tower’s central spire draws from previous buildings, like Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. One World Trade Center resembles visually the original Twin Towers, rather than being an off-center spire. The supertall structure is considered the first major building whose construction is based upon a three-dimensional BIM – Building Information Modeling.
It is interesting to note that the building occupies a 200-foot square, with an area of 40,000 sq. ft (3,700 m2). It is nearly identical to the footprints of the original Twin Towers. Designed to protect it from truck bombs and other ground-level attacks, the tower was built upon a 185-foot (56 m) tall windowless concrete base.
One World Trade Center is an architectural marvel and a photographer’s delight. Regarding the One World Trade Center design, David Childs had explained, “We really wanted our design to be grounded in something that was very real, not just in sculptural sketches. We explored the infrastructural challenges because the proper solution would have to be compelling, not just beautiful. The design does have great sculptural implications, and we fully understand the iconic importance of the tower, but it also has to be a highly efficient building.”
David Childs further added, “The discourse about Freedom Tower has often been limited to the symbolic, formal and aesthetic aspects but we recognize that if this building doesn’t function well, if people don’t want to work and visit there, then we will have failed as architects.”
Image Courtesy: Fotografia di S A T P A L