NYT skewers new Freedom Tower design

[Maven]

Some excerpts:

The darkness at ground zero just got a little darker. If there are people still clinging to the expectation that the Freedom Tower will become a monument to the highest American ideals, the current design should finally shake them out of that delusion. Somber, oppressive and clumsily conceived, the project suggests a monument to a society that has turned its back on any notion of cultural openness. It is exactly the kind of nightmare that government officials repeatedly asserted would never happen here: an impregnable tower braced against the outside world.

...

The effort fails on almost every level. As an urban object, the tower's static form and square base finally brush aside the last remnants of Mr. Libeskind's master plan, whose only real strength was the potential tension it created among the site's structures.

...

But if this is a potentially fascinating work of architecture, it is, sadly, fascinating in the way that Albert Speer's architectural nightmares were fascinating: as expressions of the values of a particular time and era. The Freedom Tower embodies, in its way, a world shaped by fear.

more...

The last part says it all. I think some of the most damaging (and lasting) effects of the BFEE and all of their henchmen have more to do with cultural character--the bitterness, and the focus on fear--than any one policy. Sadly, this new design will enshrine this new reality in cement for generations to come.

[Sannum]

1. Just build them as they were. Taller, stronger with a memorial garden

[Radio_Lady]

5. Alas, Sannum, I don't think your wish will come to pass...

[Sannum]

16. Of course it won't...

But I am used to that:). I haven't gotten my way since the 2000 election:P

[TrogL]

33. Why repeat a flawed design?

[Patsy Stone]

2. How many tries is this?

They keep missing the point that they should probably put them back just the way they were with a large ground level space for a memorial.

Why does it have to be something weird and futuristic looking? The designs I've seen so far all look like something that should be in the Fortress of Solitude instead of Lower Manhattan.

Do you have a link to the story?

[Maven]

3. Sorry, edited to include link. n/t

[whistle]

4. Ground Zero in lower Manhattan needs to be left as it is....

...until New York, the nation and the world find out the truth about what really happened on 9-11 and the days leading up to the events on 9-11.

[Tesla]

7. just the way they were

[whistle]

10. That's brilliant, what more fitting memorial that a set of holograms

...depicting the images of the twin WTC towers. No one would ever forget then. As for the real estate tycoon Larry Silverman, make him give the money back and throw the bastard in prison for life.

[newyawker99]

24. *sigh*

:cry: :cry:

[Supersedeas]

34. hmmm....i like that idea

[lvx35]

6. I kinda like it, actually.

From a certain angle its reminscent of the statue of liberty. But the symbolism is creepy: the image of trade and equality replaced by a huge hulking monolith. Oh well.

[Midnight Rambler]

8. Can I just take this time to say...

what a ridiculous name "Freedom Tower" is? First of all, no imagination whatsoever. Secondly, it invokes Freedom Fries, and everything that goes along with it, and that can't be a good thing.

[kittenpants]

15. yeah, is it supposed to tempt the terrorists...

you know, since they hate us for our freedom. I can't help but fear Bush will turn it into a prison since that would fit the administration's Orwellian naming theme.

[SaveElmer]

9. Architect snobs...

Somebody is always there to criticize. I think it's a very fitting replacement.

I remember all the hullaballoo over the VietNam vets memorial. Same criticism, and is now one of the most popular monuments in DC.

[Tesla]

11. This was taken with a digital camera just a few weeks ago

Ellie from Crystalinks had it emailed to her.

http://www.crystalinks.com/summersolstice05.html

[tallahasseedem]

21. That picture is crazy!!!!

I wonder if anybody else's camera caught that.

[JHB]

26. Weird, but they're in the wrong place

They'd be just above and behind the woman with the purple shirt.

[Maven]

14. This has nothing to do with snobbery

Yes, aesthetically, the building is boring.

But it's also oppressive and unwelcoming.

The bottom 20 FLOORS of the building will essentially be windowless--they're building a fortress with a wierd obelisk on top (and then tacking the spire on just so it still reaches 1776 feet).

[BrightKnight]

18. stone base / facade was not designed by the architect

I understand that the stone base / facade was not part of the architects' design. This is the part that I find most troubling. I understand the need for security but does it really need to be a Speer like stone wall.

You can not simply say that it is reminiscent of the statue of liberty and ignore the aesthetic an symbolic issues.

[SaveElmer]

28. I didn't mean anyone who doesn't like it is a snob

I was more reacting to the tone of the article...I just really hate that high brow blanket condemnation of something without any acknowledgement that they may be wrong, or that anyone could possibly disagree with them.

Reminds me of some movie reviewers criticizing popular movies.

[jim3775]

12. I suppose I count as an arcitectual snob.

From a purely architectural design perspective; I don’t like it, I agree with the "static form and square base" line, there is nothing special about this building. The old towers were just big uniform rigid rectangles, this new tower encompasses some of that style, weather or not that’s a good thing is in the eye of the beholder.

Now let’s look at some of the new skyscrapers in the world:

The petronas towers


Taipei 101


And now let’s look at the "freedom tower"



There is nothing special about the new tower and IMO it needs a radical redesign, I also think there needs to be ‘twin towers’. I don’t like the idea about not rebuilding them, from an economic perspective lower Manhattan needs to be revitalized, having a giant empty memorial will not help any of the small business in that area. From an emotional and personal perspective it sends the wrong message; “you knocked our buildings down and we have decided it will stay that way”. There is a big empty hole in the NY skyline and it needs to be filled.

[necso]

13. The new design

evokes what I was thinking: two (or one) eight sided towers, (but, in my concept) built in an (externally-looking) airy fashion (with that WTC-style external framing) around a rugged, (more) traditional square core that extends to (the centers of) four of the faces (which makes for some unusually shaped spaces). (The towers could also be linked by a intermediate structure (to height) for further strength and to aid evacuation.) It would be a defiant, strong structure, a "living" memorial to the towers and it would have something of a modern look.

This qualifies as a vanity post... and I am no architect (so I'm not defending the idea).

Hey, it's pile-on time. I get a shot like everyone else.

...

Oh, and the replacement for the WTC should be funded nationally (by the federal government along with donations -- I'd chip in a few bucks), nationally owned -- but turned over to the city of New York to operate (with federal support for a few years until it gets a reasonable occupancy rate).

Letting the "marketplace" and various business concerns control what gets built on this site is a mistake. This is about a lot more than business as usual -- it's about our response to this great national tragedy -- a response that so far has been largely feeble and ineffective, harming us more than our enemies and coming at great cost.

Let's build something that a hundred years from now will still stand defiant, proud and strong.

[BrightKnight]

17. It is reminiscent Albert Speer! It is certainly not Monticello.

You can't simply call it the statue of liberty and ignore the aesthetic and symbolic nature of the building. This base is the facade. it is what everyone sees at ground level.

The only way to read it is cynically. It is a monument to fear. Frear and cynicism are not core American values.

It is reasonable to make the building about the enduring and indomitable American spirit. Base it in the age of enlightenment. The building should be simple, stoic and perhaps slightly reminiscent of Monticello in a thoroughly modern since.

There should not be anything dark about this building. The antenna at the top looks pretentious.

[DeepModem Mom]

19. kick

[baldguy]

20. Why is the new "Freedom Tower" so oppressively ugly?

[newyawker99]

25. Good question. I don't like it either.

[LeftCoast]

22. Sadly, it's a fitting architectural example of what 'freedom' has come to

mean in the US. Squat and ugly, less than what it replaces and designed based on fear.

:(

[realFedUp]

23. Someone should investigate Larry Silverstein

Larry Silverstein is the lease holder on that
land. NYT have an editorial called The Best Tower
today...

Why did Larry give permission to bring Building 7 down
by controlled demolition if it wasn't hit by a plane on
9/11? Why would he still collect
insurance money from that? Did the building have asbestos problems
that would have cost millions to repair....

Has someone investigated Larry at all?

[Maven]

30. I can see 7 world trade outside my window.

It's so creepy. There's an enormous conspiracy right in front of everyone's face, literally.

[JHB]

27. Personally, I like it better. There was something wrong...

...about that latticework "open air structure", like a permanently unfinished skeleton of the top of the building. This one goes all the way up.

I'm not thrilled about the base, mostly due to the worry that it will become a forbidding dead space rather than a lively plaza, but I may be missing some things.

[solarpower6]

29. is there any talk that people might be afraid

to work in it because with its name, height, and location, it seems like a target? i can see the argument about standing up to the terrorists and not letting them win, but when does that ideal become arrogance?

[newyawker99]

31. Hi solarpower6!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BrightKnight]

32. It is possible to do both.

Balancing practical and aesthetic Cancers is what architects do. This monstrosity needs to be sent back to the architect for a re-design. DHS should let the architect make the design decisions.

You can not simply slap a building on top of an enormous stone pedestal and call it the statue of liberty. Architecture doesn't work like that. You can not ignore the perspective of a street level pedestrian. Would you want to work in or around an enormous stone tomb?

The building should be a stoic and graceful re-birth based on enduring American values.


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Welcome to DU :bounce:

[Freedomfried]

35. That name just sucks!

FF