Eat it, Chicago! The Freedom Tower One World Trade Center is taller than the Sears Willis Tower

Yes, the mast counts! One World Trade Center (right) wins!

by Ken

It all came down to the meaning of "tall." Or maybe "building." But just in time for the opening tomorrow of the modest 72-story 4 World Trade Center, the Council on Tall Buildings and Habitat (what? you didn't know there was a Council on Tall Buildings and Habitat? how else would such great questions be decided?) has issued its longest awaited ruling: The mast atop New York's still-unfinished One World Trade Center, which brings it to the full 1776-foot height envisioned by original architect Daniel Libeskind, counts, and therefore One WTC is taller than that big ugly building in Chicago that this week is called the Willis Tower -- but check back tomorrow in case it changes. This is the big, ugly building, a mere 1450 feet tall, that was originally called the Sears Tower. (It might be simpler to think of it as the [Your Name Here] Tower.) And so One WTC, when it opens -- next year? -- will officially the tallest building in the U.S.

Of course One World Trade Center used to have a different name of its own. From the unveiling of the original Libeskind design (much modified since then) it was known as the Freedom Tower, right up to the moment when suddenly, er, it wasn't.

For Team World Trade Center, the timing couldn't be better, what with the imminent opening of One WTC's much shorter (977 feet) sister building, 4 World Trade Center, "the most advanced office building of the 21st Century" (it has its own website, 4wtc.com), designed by Fumihiko Maki, diagonally across the 9/11 Memorial from One WTC. (Yes, according to the wtc.com website it's "One," but "2," "3," and "4" World Trade Center. Except that 2 and 3 WTC, the two other towers planned for the site, don't exist yet, and I'm not aware of any immediate plans for them to proceed. There will also be a 5 WTC, on the site of the former Deutsche Bank, but like the long-completed 7 WTC to the north, it's not actually on the Trade Center site.)

At issue was whether the roughly 400-foot mast that tops out One WTC should be counted as part of the building's height. Luckily, we have the Council on Tall Buildings and Habitat and its able chairman, Timothy Johnson, to grapple with such weighty questions. The NYT's Patrick McGeehan and Charles V. Bagli report:

Mr. Johnson said there was plenty of discussion about the purpose of the mast when the 25 members of the council's height committee met Friday in Chicago. In order to be counted as part of the building, the mast had to be deemed a permanent part of the architectural expression of the building.

The chief architect of 1 World Trade Center, David Childs of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, told the committee that the mast should be counted, in part, because the building was designed with the intention of having the symbolic height of 1,776 feet. He had, however, referred to the mast in the past as an antenna.

In the end, the committee was in agreement, Mr. Johnson said.

"The building is in fact 1,776 feet," he said. "We don't believe the spire will ever be removed."

In other words, what Mr. Johnson appears to be saying is that if one day we should all wake up and find that the spire, or mast (but no, not antenna) has been removed, boy, will he and his pals on the council be surprised!

Although the famous council meeting took place in Chicago, there appears to have been no serious threat of hostage-taking. Instead, the Chicago soreheads were heard to be muttering the word "antenna" mixed in with many colorful profanities after the decision was announced.

SPEAKING OF SPIRES . . .

Inevitably, this contretemps recalls the famous spire episode that resulted in the 1046-foot Chrysler Building's being recognized as the world's tallest for an entire 11 months, before yielding to the Empire State Building in 1932. Here's the story as told by Wikipedia (footnotes onsite):

Prior to its completion, the [Chrysler B]uilding stood about even with a rival project at 40 Wall Street, designed by H. Craig Severance. Severance increased the height of his project and then publicly claimed the title of the world's tallest building. (This distinction excluded structures that were not fully habitable, such as the Eiffel Tower.) In response, Van Alen obtained permission for a 38-meter (125 ft) long spire and had it secretly constructed inside the frame of the building. The spire was delivered to the site in four different sections. On October 23, 1929, the bottom section of the spire was hoisted onto the top of the building's dome and lowered into the 66th floor of the building. The other remaining sections of the spire were hoisted and riveted to the first one in sequential order in just 90 minutes.

UPDATE: EAT IT, MAYOR RAHM!

I saw on TV where Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is all hissy and sarcastic about his city's crappy old Whatchamacallit Tower getting stuffed in the Skyscraper Wars. Fringe benefit!

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