Designing One World Trade Center (Freedom Tower)

By Jackie Craven, About.com Guide

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Ten Years After 9/11

Construction on 1 World Trade Center (Freedom Tower) and 7 World Trade Center, July 31, 2011

Photo by Flickr Member Paolo Ferrarini, CC 2.0 Generic

By all appearances, the design for Freedom Tower was finished. Business-minded developers gave it a new, no-nonsense name: One World Trade Center. Builders began pouring the central core using a special super-strong concrete. Floors were raised and bolted into the building. This technique, called "slip form" construction, minimizes the need for internal columns. Ultra-strong curtain wall glass will offer sweeping, unobstructed views.

Meanwhile, more than $10 million poured into fabricating prismatic glass for the base of the skyscraper. Architects gave samples to manufacturers in China, but they weren't able to produce 2,000 panels of the material specified. When tested, the panels shattered into dangerous shards. In spring 2011, with the Tower already soaring 65 stories, David Childs continued to tweak the design.

According to Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill, architects plan to create a "dynamic, shimmering surface" for the lower portion of the skyscraper. Until construction is completed, the design is an ongoing process.

One World Trade Center is scheduled to open in January 2014.

_{News Sources}

_{How Has Skyscraper Design Changed Since 9/11?, PBS NOVA}

_{Feature at Trade Center Is Halted After $10 Million, New York Times}

_{Reflections on the glass base of 1 World Trade Center, Chicago Tribune}

_{Technical Resources}

_{A Building Rises at Ground Zero, Architectural Record}