Towering infernal
Architects in New York City have revealed the latest design iteration for the Freedom Tower, the 1,776-foot-tall structure to be built on the site of the late, lamented World Trade Center.
There are three certainties in life:
I'm no architect, but it seems to me that this new design is far more... umm... prosaic (translated: boring) than earlier versions. But that's what you get when, as in the case of the proverbial camel, you attempt to design a horse by committee.
I'm reminded of the furor over architect Maya Lin's concept for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. When Lin's design was first unveiled, the public howled. But the backers of the project stuck to their guns, and built the memorial the way Lin envisioned it. Today, of course, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most revered and beloved icons in the nation's capital.
If only the bigwigs in New York had cojones that size.
As a side note, there appears to be no validity to the oft-repeated rumor that the original plans called for the building to be dubbed the French Tower. In case you were wondering.
There are three certainties in life:
- Death.
- Taxes.
- The Freedom Tower will be completely redesigned a few more times before they get around to building the darned thing.
I'm no architect, but it seems to me that this new design is far more... umm... prosaic (translated: boring) than earlier versions. But that's what you get when, as in the case of the proverbial camel, you attempt to design a horse by committee.
I'm reminded of the furor over architect Maya Lin's concept for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. When Lin's design was first unveiled, the public howled. But the backers of the project stuck to their guns, and built the memorial the way Lin envisioned it. Today, of course, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is one of the most revered and beloved icons in the nation's capital.
If only the bigwigs in New York had cojones that size.
As a side note, there appears to be no validity to the oft-repeated rumor that the original plans called for the building to be dubbed the French Tower. In case you were wondering.
Labels: Aimless Riffing, Random Acts of Patriotism
SwanShadow was randomly pounding the keyboard at 6:40 PM
2 insisted on sticking two cents in:
I still think the best, most appropriate to NYC, proposed design was the five tower one.
Y'know, the one that'd look like:
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Well, that didn't work per formatting. Basically, the one that'd look like five fingers and flipping the bird.
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