#UC : World Trade Centre Site

[Omicron]

Yerk. It's not horrendous, but gawd, it's nothing special, either.

[spiller]

As a second home "chicagoan" i'm happy that it still has the top 2 tallest buildings in the US as a result of this change, however what a mess up of epic proportions on behalf of the Port Authority. There have been three key changes to this building for different reasons in the past 12 months and the peeps on skyscrapercity (and New Yorkers in particular) are not at all happy. First the podium glass, then the outdoor plaza was dumbed down, and now this. This building iss absolutely stunning in real life, and im sure it still will be when complete, but to have people hope its going to be the tallest and for it not to work out that way looks pretty bad. Either way, i'm a believer in roof height because a higher roof always has more presence than a building with a spire. Take bank of america building for example, its the 4th tallest building in NYC currently yet you barely see it in the skyline as it blends in with all of the other needles.

[Maximus]

On a more serious note you'll probably be happy to know (Maximus) that the Willis Tower will now remain the tallest building in the US, after the spire of 1WTC has had its casing removed in a redesign, and will now merely be an antenna (which looks horendous). The new design will be 419m, therefore becoming the tallest building in NYC, and third tallest in the US when it's completed in 2013. Though it is likely to lose its title to 432 Park Avenue as tallest in NYC by 2016ish.

Well, the authorities have finally spoken and the spire/antenna is officially considered to be part of the 1WTC structure, and it is therefore 'taller' than Sears Tower... Nevertheless, a very nice building. I like it a lot.

World Trade Centre tower to be tallest in the US

THE new World Trade Centre tower under construction in New York has knocked Chicago's Willis Tower off its pedestal as the tallest building in the US, when an international panel of architects announced that the needle atop the New York skyscraper can be counted when measuring the structure's height.

The Height Committee of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat said the needle is not an antenna but a spire, and thus is a permanent part of the building. The World Trade Centre's needle, measuring 124 metres tall, was more than enough to knock down the Chicago building formerly known as the Sears Tower to second place, in a decision made by a Chicago-based panel.

With the needle, 1 World Trade Centre is 1,776 feet (541 metres) tall, a height meant to symbolise America's founding year. Without it, the building would have been well short of the 1,451-foot (442-metre) Willis Tower.

continues...

[spiller]

sad day for the Sears Tower but in my eyes a needle never counts, much less one that looks exactly like an antenna!

[Maximus]

sad day for the Sears Tower but in my eyes a needle never counts, much less one that looks exactly like an antenna!

On a related note, what I find really amazing is that if you use height-to-roof, the Empire State Building is still the 13th tallest building in the world... Built over 80 years ago! In fact, by that same measure, just ten years ago it was the 2nd tallest building in the world. An incredible feat of engineering that has really stood the test of time.