The Safest Skyscraper In The World?

Architects designing the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero have to battle gravity, wind, ...and fear.

1 minute read

March 18, 2004, 2:00 PM PST

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"Any architect or engineer who works on a tall structure is morally and professionally obligated to become something of a safety obsessive. The steel and concrete of every Manhattan skyscraper has to resist hurricane-force winds, for example, as well as the downward pull of the Earth. But only the Freedom Tower will rise over a patch of ground that is forever shaken with the terror and paranoia of the worst building catastrophe in the history of the planet. As with the very first generation of skyscrapers, the work will have to be so visibly solid, so secure, that it will convince an anxious public to step into the building. After all, those who enter will not only be haunted by what occurred at the site in the past; they will also be apprehensive about what could happen again."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Sunday, March 14, 2004 in The New York Times

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