Freedom Bunker
The original World Trade Center towers were not things of beauty, except in their absence. The original design for the "Freedom Tower" was hardly transcendent. The latest design is ugly. You can never say that we don't learn from attacks, even if the attack we're defending against happened in 1993.
In a way, it's more evocative of our reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Gone, for instance, is the elegant open space above the observation deck and below the antenna. That space, whether intended or not, evoked for me the absence of those lost in the aerial attack. And the fantasy of filling that space with wind turbines I thought a wonderful reminder that our dependence on Arab oil states makes us vulnerable to more attacks.
Instead of open space, we get more office space. No more wind turbines. A bunker-like lobby. How illustrative of our reaction to 9-11. We were told to go shopping and fly flags. We are indifferent to rising gas prices to fill our H-2s. Our foreign policy has been a pulling back and a hostility to other countries, whether ally or foe.
It's our Freedom Bunker. A little taste of the Green Zone in lower Manhattan.
The first 30 feet of the 200-foot-tall pedestal would be completely solid. The next 50 feet would have some openings, allowing light to be brought into the lobby from above. The rest of the base would be occupied by four floors of mechanical equipment. Stainless steel, titanium or aluminum panels would mask the concrete wall.
In a way, it's more evocative of our reaction to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Gone, for instance, is the elegant open space above the observation deck and below the antenna. That space, whether intended or not, evoked for me the absence of those lost in the aerial attack. And the fantasy of filling that space with wind turbines I thought a wonderful reminder that our dependence on Arab oil states makes us vulnerable to more attacks.
Instead of open space, we get more office space. No more wind turbines. A bunker-like lobby. How illustrative of our reaction to 9-11. We were told to go shopping and fly flags. We are indifferent to rising gas prices to fill our H-2s. Our foreign policy has been a pulling back and a hostility to other countries, whether ally or foe.
It's our Freedom Bunker. A little taste of the Green Zone in lower Manhattan.
The darkness at ground zero just got a little darker. If there are people still clinging to the expectation that the Freedom Tower will become a monument to the highest American ideals, the current design should finally shake them out of that delusion. Somber, oppressive and clumsily conceived, the project suggests a monument to a society that has turned its back on any notion of cultural openness. It is exactly the kind of nightmare that government officials repeatedly asserted would never happen here: an impregnable tower braced against the outside world.
posted by John at 12:31 PM
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