ONE WORLD TRADE CENTER

Description

Essentials about One World Trade Center in brief

Even during construction, the new One World Trade Center has become one of New York City’s landmarks. The successor building to the twin towers of the former World Trace Center destroyed in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, stands 541.3 meters tall, making it the tallest building in the city and the entire United States. One World Trade Center towers above Manhattan’s other skyscrapers, making it an eye-catcher from all directions. From the observation deck, you can enjoy a breathtaking panoramic view of Manhattan, the rest of New York City and across New York Bay to New Jersey.

The name “One World Trade Center”

There were long debates about the naming of the One World Trade Center. Since the former North Tower already bore the designation “One World Trade Center,” many people demanded that the new skyscraper be renamed. The original redevelopment plan called the new building “Freedom Tower”. However, as of 2009, the building was officially named One World Trade Center for marketing reasons.

The new One World Trade Center is located a few meters further north of the former site of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The National September 11 Memorial was built on the exact site of these towers.

The architecture of One World Trade Center

One World Trade Center was designed by architect David Childs. It was based on a design by Daniel Libeskind, who had won the open architectural competition in 2002 and designed the master plan for new construction on the destroyed site. However, Libeskind’s design has been heavily modified, both in terms of the design of the structure and its spire. What has remained, however, is the tower’s symbolic height of 1776 feet (541.32 meters), which refers to the United States’ 1776 Declaration of Independence.

The tower is shaped like an elongated square antiprism. The square roof is rotated 45 degrees from the square base, creating eight triangular faces for the tower’s exterior walls; four of them point downward and four point upward. The upper square is smaller by just enough to fit into the lower one in plan view. As a result, the four triangles pointing up are vertical instead of overhanging. The lower square is not the first floor of the tower, but the floor plan of the 20th floor. The floors below form the base of the building.

The actual building is 417 meters high up to the roof. This corresponds to the roof height of the North Tower of the old World Trade Center. Above the roof follows a kind of ring on which some steel cables hold the spire rising in the middle. At night, the spire is illuminated with a large beam of light across the New York City sky. The One World Trade Center has a total of 104 floors, providing approximately 325,000 square feet of office space.

During the construction of One World Trade Center, special attention was paid to the stability and safety of the building. The tower stands on a massive concrete foundation that extends almost 60 meters into the earth. The walls are made of concrete up to 91 centimeters thick and a corset of special steel. The base (the first 60 meters of the building) is completely encased on the outside in special glass to prevent the windows from shattering in the event of an explosion. The steel was coated with a thick layer of fireproof coating, as the inadequate fire protection of the steel components in the former twin towers was held mainly responsible for the collapse of the towers. The stairwells were also made very wide so that the building could be evacuated quickly in the event of a disaster.

The observation decks of One World Trade Center

However, the main reason to visit One World Trade Center are the observation floors, which are located on the upper floors from the 100th to the 102nd floor. The actual observation floor is the 100th floor; there is a food court on the 101st floor and an event space on the 102nd floor. The observation floor offers a magnificent panoramic view of Manhattan, the rest of New York City, the Hudson and East Rivers, New York Bay and its islands, and New Jersey. If you get hungry with so many panoramic views, you can grab a bite to eat at three locations (a café, a grill and a restaurant) at the top of the building.