On July 24, 2001, the Port Authority agrees to a 99-year lease of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and adjacent low-rise buildings to American developer Larry Silverstein for $3.2 billion.Īfter hijacked planes hit the Twin Towers on 9/11, Marriott staff evacuate hundreds of guests. But antennas are not counted in a skyscraper’s height measurement as they are not internationally accepted as an architectural component of buildings. But 1 WTC loses its tallest skyscraper ranking to Chicago's 443-meter Sears Tower in 1974.ġ WTC's unique features include its 106th and 107th floor restaurant spaces known as Windows on the World, which open on April 19, 1976, and become popular tourist attractions.Ī 110-meter telecom antenna is installed on 1 WTC’s roof in 1979, soaring to a height of 527 meters. It officially opens for business on April 4, 1973. When 1 WTC is completed in 1972, it becomes the world's tallest building at 417 meters, overtaking New York's Empire State Building. The towers are located on what used to be “Radio Row,” a Lower Manhattan area known for its consumer electronics stores.Ĭonstruction begins with an August 5, 1966, groundbreaking and uses an innovative technique in which each tower’s main structure is built as a square-shaped hollow tube of closely spaced steel perimeter columns, connected to the tower’s central steel core by floor trusses. It is one of two twin towers designed by American architect Minoru Yamasaki and built by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a joint governmental agency of the two states. One World Trade Center (left) is topped off at 110 floors in 1970 and its first tenants move in. The answer is 1776, and it’s no coincidence: it was deliberately chosen in honor the year of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence!ĪN INTERESTING FACT: during the second official ceremony for the commencement of the work, held in 2006 in Battery Park City, the public was invited to sign what was to become the first beam of the One World Trade Center.Credit: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Balthazar Korab Collection 1976 If you look up to the top – and manage not to twist your neck – you’ll see that the shape changes the higher up it stretches: from a square base to an octagonal part and back to a square shape again.Īnd finally, a math problem! If One World Trade Center is exactly 541 meters high, how high is it in feet, the unit of measurement widely used in the English-speaking world? The rest of the building, however, remained faithful to the original design, with a steel shell and outer panels in glass. The initial idea was for the skyscraper to be sheathed in glass, but for safety reasons, the architect David Childs – who also designed the famous Burj Khalifa in Dubai – was forced to cover the base with concrete: less appealing, but more resistant. The building was initially to be named Freedom Tower, but in 2009, the Port Authority decided to change the name to something a little more technical and less romantic. Its slim figure seems to pay homage to the unforgettable Twin Towers. One World Trade Center is the highest skyscraper in the western hemisphere, and one of the top ten worldwide. The New World Trade Center, built literally over the ashes of the original World Trade Center, the heart of which was struck by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, is today a proud symbol of the city and its people, and their ability to rise up after being knocked down.Īnd the World Trade Center certainly has risen up! It’s an impressive sight, isn’t it? Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: the New World Trade Center. Hi, my name’s Rick, and I’m your personal guide.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |