Respect Authority

The hoopla concerning the “name change” of 1WTC was a reminder that, fuck me, they’re really redeveloping the World Trade Center site. For nearly a decade anyone living or working south of Chambers has had to put up with closed streets, cranes, dump trucks, and smelly construction workers bogarting deli lines with little more than a well-organized hole in the ground to show for it.  But by 2012 (hopefully), the pain will be over.

When it was first revealed, 1WTC’s design failed to make a real impression (at least Daniel Libsekind’s piece of shit allowed me to hate it). The “Freedom Tower” branding was woefully uninspired and the symbolic height of 1,776 feet - retarded. The entire project reeked of sloppy politics. 

But as early as September 11, 2008, rumors were spreading that the “Freedom Tower” name was falling out of favor among the developers. With Pataki gone, Rudy diminished (to put it diplomatically) and the Bush Administration tarred and feathered (also a diplomatic euphemism) - the professionals were left to their own devices. The public announcement two weeks ago that the “Freedom Tower” brand has been cast aside was really an official announcement that the project is out of the hands of bumbling politicians and vision-less real estate magnates and in the control of the some of the best designers and engineers in the world. Trust me, it shows. Read More ›