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Colby Bealing

Paul Zeroth

Architecture rand Design

19 December 2022

One World Trade Center

Overview

One World Trade Center, commonly referred to as One World Trade, One WTC, and
formerly Freedom Tower, is the primary structure of the renovated World Trade Center complex
in Lower Manhattan, New York City. One World Trade Center, the highest structure in the
United States, the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere, and the eighth tallest structure in
the world, was created by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architect David Childs. The enormous
building shares its name with the North Tower of the old World Trade Center, which was
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demolished in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. On the location of the first 6 World
Trade Center, the new tower is situated on the northwest corner of the 16-acre World Trade
Center complex.
On April 27, 2006, work on the new building's footings, foundations, and relocation of

underground utilities started. On April 30, 2012, One World Trade Center surpassed the Empire

State Building in height to take the title of tallest building in New York City. The steel

framework of the tower was completed on August 30, 2012. The last part of the skyscraper's

spire was put in place on May 10, 2013, giving the structure a total height of 1,776 feet.

Intentionally referencing the year that the United States Declaration of Independence was signed,

it is measured in feet. The structure was inaugurated on November 3, 2014, and the One World

Observatory on May 29, 2015.

History
David Rockefeller led the effort to build the original World Trade Center, which was

intended to be an urban regeneration project. Lower Manhattan was to be revitalized as a result

of the project. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey developed the project and

employed Minoru Yamasaki as the architect. The 1 and 2 World Trade Center twin buildings

were built as framed tube constructions to give tenants open floor layouts free of columns or

walls. The North Tower was One World Trade Center, while the South Tower was Two World

Trade Center. Each tower was more than 1,350 feet tall and took up nearly one acre of the site's

entire 16 acres of land. Eight of each tower's 110 storeys were designated as mechanical levels.

The remaining floors were all accessible to renters. The skyscraper has 40,000 square feet of area

on each story. Total office space in the North and South towers was 3,800,000 square feet.

The North Tower's construction started in August 1966, and it used a lot of prefabricated

parts to speed up the process. In October 1971, the North Tower's first tenants began to occupy
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it. With a height of 1,368 feet at the time, the original One World Trade Center rose to the top of

the world's tallest structures. The North Tower's highest point increased to 1,728 feet after a 360-

foot-tall antenna was put in place in 1978. Four more low-rise structures that are a component of

the World Trade Center complex were constructed in the 1970s. Midway through the 1980s, a

seventh structure was constructed. There were 13,400,000 square feet of offices spread over the

complex's seven towers.

On September 11, 2001, between the 93rd and 99th floors of the North Tower, at the time

of 8:46 a.m. Five hijackers associated with al-Qaeda wrecked American Airlines Flight 11.

Nineteen minutes later, at 9:03 a.m. A second set of terrorists hijacked United Airlines Flight 175

and slammed it into the southern face of the South Tower, impacting between the 77th and 85th

floors. The South Tower burned for almost 56 minutes before it fell at 9:59 a.m. The North

Tower's structural collapse occurred at 10:28 a.m. after 102 minutes of fire. Debris from the

North Tower's fall landed on the adjoining 7 World Trade Center, causing damage and sparking

fires. The building's structural stability was jeopardized as a result of the flames' protracted burn

times.

Architecture
The final design of the skyscraper omitted a lot of Daniel Libeskind's initial ideas from

the 2002 competition. The final design of One World Trade Center had straightforward

symmetry and a more conventional profile that were meant to contrast with certain components

of the modern New York cityscape. The Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building are

referenced in the tower's central spire. Additionally, rather of being an asymmetrical spire like

the Statue of Liberty, it has a similar aesthetic to the original Twin Towers. The construction of
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One World Trade Center is regarded as the first significant structure to be based on a three-

dimensional Building Information Model.

The building's 200-foot square footprint and 40,000 square feet of space are almost exact

replicas of the original Twin Towers' footprints. The tower is supported by a 185-foot tall,

windowless concrete base that is intended to shield it from truck bombs and other ground-level

assaults. The tower is shaped into eight tall isosceles triangles, or an elongated square antiprism,

starting from the twentieth level up, when the square sides of the tower's cubic base are

chamfered back. The tower culminates in a glass parapet with a square shape that is angled 45

degrees from the base, forming a perfect octagon towards the center of the structure. The

broadcasting antenna is mounted on a 407.9-foot carved pole - created as a result of a partnership

between engineers, lighting designers, artist Kenneth Snelson, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

rises from a circular support ring that holds additional broadcasting and maintenance gear and is

held in place by a network of cables. Over 1,000 feet above the tower, a powerful beam of light

is thrown vertically from the spire at night.

Conclusion
Overall the one world trade center is one of the most iconic buildings in the United states. Its size

and shape makes it different and unique compared to all of the other buildings in the United

States. When I visited New York City this summer, when I first drove into the city the one world

trade center was the center of attention due to its size and look. When I took a tore of the

museum of the past one world trade center, I got the chance to stand directly next to the building

and It frightened me looking how high up in the sky it was. I couldn’t imagine working on the

top floor or cleaning the windows of the building. It was one of the craziest thing i've ever seen

in my life.
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References
https://www.wtc.com/about/buildings/1-world-trade-center