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The Freedom Tower will make history by being the first skyscraper to integrate large-scale Wind turbines that will generate 20% of the building's electrical power needs. Wind turbines are generally not suited for urban environments because of the turbulence created by other nearby buildings, but the massive height of the wind turbines should overcome that difficulty.
Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of the Trade Center, will most likely be the owner of the Freedom Tower when completed. However the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the 16-acre site. The Port Authority estimates the Freedom Tower to cost USD 1.5-2.0 Billion alone or about $1 million per 500 square feet. Already, the Port Authority plans to occupy at least one-third of the office space.
The master planner and architect of the Freedom Tower is architect Daniel Libeskind although David Childs, an architect for Silverstein is also working with him to maximize office space. Silverstein and Childs hopes the Freedom Tower and the complex of new buildings around it (known the Memory Foundations) will fully replace the 10 million square foot office space lost.
Like the World Trade Center, there will be a public lobby, and two concourse levels which will house retail stores and provide pedestrian access to mass transit. Capped on the very top of the 60 floors will be an indoor observation deck, a restaurant, and an event space. The Freedom Tower Spire's upper levels will contain a massive vertical garden memorial known as Gardens of the World.
On top of the spire, the antenna will raise the Tower to over 2000 feet. This will be the new broadcasting system to various New York TV channels and Radio stations.
The Freedom Tower design has generated some controversy due to the limited number of floors (a maximum of 70) that is slated to house office space and other amenities. The floor limit was imposed by Silverstein, who expressed concern that higher floors would be a liability in a major accident or terrorist attack.
All images are used by permission and published by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation [1]
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