[Brookside]

Sir Norman Foster on Tower 2


Proposed redesign of Tower Two in Manhattan by architect Norman Foster

The Future of Ground Zero

At a press conference yesterday, architects Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, and Fumihiko Maki unveiled designs for three towers that will rise along the eastern edge of the World Trade Center site. Following a clockwise spiral from the Freedom Tower, each of the buildings steps down in height, gradually descending to the WTC memorial.

For Tower 2, Foster designed a 78-story skyscraper that peaks with a slanted diamond-shaped top, acknowledging the memorial below. “It is generated by that tragic event of the past. But optimistically, in terms of the future, it’s an iconic, distinct, unique shape on the skyline,” Foster said. Organized around a cruciform core, deep channels slice the tower into four vertical volumes, which also break the summit into four smaller diamond forms. The unique roofline will be illuminated at night.

Source: Architectural Record