What is Digg?179 Comments
- waysa, on 10/12/2007, -4/+156Forget the architecture, couldn't they have come up with a better name? The "Freedom Tower?" It sounds like something out of a comic book.
- Andrico4, on 10/12/2007, -6/+149Just put the same two towers back up again. That is the ultimate thing that says, "***** you terrorists"
- nrfx, on 10/12/2007, -4/+85Freedom Tower reeks of false adolescent name changing ala Freedom Fries, Freedom Toast, etc..
also, is it just me and my poor eyes, but in the particular rendering used in TFA, doesn't it almost kinda look like a plane underneath the spire? - david76, on 10/12/2007, -1/+73Besides, the same complaints were made of WTC 1 and 2 when they were built in the 70s.
Unfortunately, when you compare the Freedom Tower to other tall buildings around the world, it just doesn't stand up. The Burj Tower's design is 30 years ahead of the Freedom Tower. http://www.burjdubai.com/content/thetower.asp - molecool, on 10/12/2007, -2/+42Three words: DESIGN BY COMMITTEE
Oh, and one more word: UGLY!!!! - Neo189, on 10/12/2007, -0/+39"...a city still in a state of turmoil and delusion."
We're mostly just living normal, day-to-day lives at this point >.> - dreamlayers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+39The problem with the Death Star tower is that it would have a minor hidden flaw and it would be blown up by some kid who grew up in a desert. (Hmm... desert...)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34The last thing this country needs is a building that says "I don't feel good about myself unless my building is cooler than yours."
Put the same two buildings back up and put the saved money into making our children not imbeciles. - bm8631, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34Actually, when the WTC towers first went up, the general populous thought of them as a couple of eyesores that poked into the sky. Two rectangular, faceless dull grey buildings -- nothing like the Empire State Building. I think if people give the Freedom Tower time, they will get used to it and come to see it as an icon of an NYC bright with optimism. Don't hate it because it's new and not "like the old days."
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31we could construct a building resembling the death star....no pilot in their right mind would fly anywhere near the thing unless their name is luke.
- masamunecyrus, on 10/12/2007, -5/+31Yeah, but did they have to make the base a 187-foot concrete wall? A truck bomb isn't going to take down a 21st century skyscraper; it might blow out several stories of windows, but it won't even remotely take it down. And I highly doubt that any recurrence of 9/11 will be able to happen now that people are aware that planes can be used as missiles; and even if it did, they're not going to fly the planes into the base of the tower. Simply put, there's no reason they had to make the base, as the NYT article said, a symbol of paranoia of the outside world.
- RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -18/+44We didn't need a pretentious NYT article to tell us that the tower looks like ass. They should draft a tower in the spirit of the originals: dominating, defiant, proud.
- fantasticFlan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+23It very nearly is something out of a comic book:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms_Plaza - kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1720 stories of concrete windowless dead space at street level. Any urban planner can tell you what that's going to do to the life of the building and plaza. They might as well call it "Freedom Bunker"
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -8/+24The current American government doesn't know what freedom is; accordingly, they do not support or promote it.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15We should call it The French Tower
- keyrat, on 10/12/2007, -6/+20"To not build again, denotes defeat. It is like being hit and not getting back up."
See, this is the kind of retard mentality which will ***** up this project. You can't let pride make a rushjob of this whole thing. Moreover, the world stage is much different than a fist fight, and your analogy dumbs it all down. America is strong, and there's no need to prove ***** to anyone, especially if it results in a bad decision. - Sonizel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14wow, now thats architecture. thanks david76
- dreamlayers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13LOL, I've seen that pic. Here's one link: http://www.csee.umbc.edu/~mariedj/browse/funny/NewWorldTradeCenter.jpg
- TheShadowKnows, on 10/12/2007, -0/+12From the article (which is quite good and well worth the read):
"By comparison the Freedom Tower is conceived as a barricaded fortress. Its base, a 20-story-high windowless concrete bunker that houses the lobby as well as many of the structure’s mechanical systems, is clad in laminated glass panels to give it visual allure, but the message is the same. It speaks less of resilience and tolerance than of paranoia. It’s a building armored against an outside world that we no longer trust.
There is no reason to accept this as fate."
It'd be nice if we would adopt that view with respect to rebuilding the Republic, too. - bromac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Coming from the man of few words.
- Jaq524, on 10/12/2007, -6/+16I didn't think that looked bad, per se, although the Twin Towers looked one hell of a lot cooler.
- Wonderkind, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11Make it really tall and make it the new Senate Office Building.
Give the Senators with the most seniority the highest level offices. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+16Did George Bush come up with that retarded ***** name? It might as well be
"The Non-Terrorist-Harboring, Super-Democratic, Sovereign, Liberty, Power-Tower, Don't Fool Me Again, .....Stretch." - catalysis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10"if America was so strong, it wouldn't have taken this long to redo this."
What does that even mean? "America" is not building the tower, its a few people on a board. Im not sure how they do it in Canada, but in the US buildings are not built by the country but by a developer. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8If you think dubai is nice, look at what is planned for argentina:
http://www.grupotorcello.com.ar/ABAF/
I agree with the article, we are holding ourselves back out of fear. I think building a mediocre building when something 100x better could have been built really is a sign of defeat in a way. - Franklancer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9"Use the fatwa Luke"..
- dreamlayers, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8sorry, replied to wrong comment
- dropoutfilms, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8As a New Yorker, I have to say that I couldn't agree more with this article.
Not only is the building damn ugly... "freedom tower"??? Give me a break.
The Burj's Tower in Dubai is an accomplishment. The Freedom Tower is gaudy - at best.
We need to put Silverstein in prison, and get back to the ingenuity and forward-thinking that built this city. - KnytFyre, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8@ broccoli
"I agree put the same ones back, except make them so the same cant happen again. That to me would be the ultimate way to say you cant make us change."
So change something to show the world we won't change???? Nice logic there. How's this for a change, how about we all quit living in a world of fear and get on about our lives. I remember after the attacks many commercials and articles saying that the terrorist were trying to change the way we lived our lives. And those same commercials and articles boldly claimed that either the terrorists had failed, or that the only change they succedded in making was to draw us closer. Well, we did draw closer for a short time, and in that time the government used our still tangible fear to step in and take more control of our lives and wage wars with vague agendas against even more vague threats. Now we plan on building a "freedom" tower at the heart of ground zero and make it as terrorist proof as we can (which will only solidify any terrorists ideals about destroying it). How ironic that this "freedom" tower will be built on the ashes of the very tragedy that gave the powers that be the opportunity to strip our freedoms from us. If we want change, let's stop living in fear. If we want to prove we are undaunted by the attacks, let's stop allowing our power mad leaders to run ruff-shod over our lives and freedoms. America is supposed to be the place where anything is possible, let's bring that back. - Doorfingers, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10The Freedom Tower kind of sounds like the Hall of Justice...
- wingnut21, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"The same overall design, but a few modern updates to it. Maybe spruce it up a bit, put a few curves here and there."
Do these words sound familiar to any other designers? I'm not attacking you specifically, but man, you definitely sound like some clients I've had before... - edstate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Yup. Most NYC'rs I know want the same towerx, but a floor higher. ...I know Trump said it too, but even though he's a huge douche, he's right on this one.
- diggnationdevon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I'd like to see the same towers that were there before, just stronger built.
- geekee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"Recently cities like Paris, London and San Francisco have held major architectural competitions for towers that will reshape their skylines. All of them drew on an array of ambitious architectural talents; many of those designs pushed technological and structural limits while reimagining the skyscraper as part of a holistic urban vision."
Please, no more Gehry type crap. - alecperkins, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I don't mind the aesthetics of the design too much, but it's still disappointingly boring when compared to some of the other tall buildings being built in the world. The Burj Dubai david76 pointed out is one of my favorites, as is I M Pei's Bank of China. They are much more interesting to look at than the Freedom Tower (totally ridiculous name, by the way).
Bank of China: http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Bank_of_China.html - mjl5629, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Can we please not call this thing "Freedom Tower"?
Have we not diluted enough words already? - axiomata, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Why, you thinking of going bowling? ;)
- CAP811, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Build a row of 5 towers: 4 the same height, the center tower twice as high as the others...
- d00ley, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I'm still trying to figure out how building an enormous ***** in the middle of Manhattan is supposed to be an expression of freedom.
- Lavarock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6I do know that in Canada, milk comes in bags. I wouldn't put them above it.
- totallydismayed, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I can't help but feel New Yorkers are making a mistake.
Here in Oklahoma City, we suffered through a terrible domestic terrorism attack 12 years ago. In the immediate aftermath, people were angry and wanted to rebuild the area exactly as it was "to send a message." As time wore on, we realized that there were many emotions tied to the area, not to mention that Ground Zero literally was the final resting place of many, many people. We were very fortunate in that city leaders and bombing survivors forced the issue on the public, making us talk about and openly discuss all of our options, and quite frankly our emotions.
In the end, we ended up with a beautiful memorial and anti-terrorism museum that I don't think anyone here would trade for any of the other options that were presented to us. It is both a wonderful tribute to those who died, an educational tool for the young and the visitors, and a sacred place where we will never forget what happened to us.
I'll leave you guys with a quote that is engraved on the massive "Gates of Time" entrance into the memorial:
"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity...."
Please New York... reconsider. - sooperdooper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8The plaza looks way better, to me, without the tower.
Besides, you can't knock down a park! - leobaby, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8you ***** need to learn to disagree without insulting each other.
- dori, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Why are we having the same guy build the tower? He already made a huge mistake building the last one. I'm sure there are much finer architects out there, even foreign ones.
And yes, "Freedom Tower" is just too cheesy. We already have the Statue of Liberty. Now that sounds nice. It sounds like America. "Freedom Tower" reeks of war, pain, and suffering.
And I don't want more of our tax money sucked into stupid ventures that get us nowhere but more bitter, and deeper in debt(as if that could be possible). How about we raise 3 billion dollars for Cancer? Or something that means something? No. Lets blow it on a building that nobody wants, nobody will lease, and will stand for nothing but a terrible memory of the past that we all just want to forget. - Waiting2awake, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12@key
Who said anything about a "rushjob"? Try not to put words into my mouth it only makes your position weaker. We can disagree without having to insult each other.
As for dumbing it down to a fist fight - maybe this is a little complex, but within every action there is symbolism. The attack themselves were symbolic - as were the towers them-self's. To ignore the symbol of rebuilding is wantonly, well, ignorant.
BTW - if America was so strong, it wouldn't have taken this long to redo this. It wouldn't have been bogged down in politic's and America would have been strong enough to deal with the reasons "why" and not just react. Also, note I haven't even mentioned Iraq in terms of America's strength - because that too was a symbol. America gave every extremists the very symbol they needed to unite those that were on the fence about American oppression(Whether it is real or not, it is remember a symbol), and because no one paid attention to the "symbol" of American soldiers on "Islamic land", you are in the mess America is in today. Of course people pointed this out back then, but no one was interested in the Symbol because America was strong...
Buddy, you have no right to call anyone a retard when you are walking around blind without a cane. - Akronos, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8Osama Bin Luke?
- Waiting2awake, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9 Heck, I am not a fan of the current incarnation of the US republic - but I give a *****. America had within it, and IMO still does, the potential to be the beacon of freedom that your forefathers dreamt about. To not rebuild, or to not take the rebuilding seriously(including the design, etc) is to accept that when you are hit, when trouble strikes - you will fold. To me, that is not what your country was supposed to be about.
Sad that a Canadian would have to remind an American of this.. - HunterTV, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7"You apparently have no idea how powerful explosives are. A truck full of a lot of different mixtures would knock down any building."
@cawpin That's just the point. Apparently you have no grasp of irony. - davinic, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Exactly. The way these people work, the "Freedom" Tower should be a prison........like "Patriot Act" and "Clear Skies Initiative"
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