# Am I the only one who thinks the new 1 World Trade Center building is...boring? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 3, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530 "2014-11-03T17:07:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/1 "2014-11-03T17:07:18Z")
Well, one of the news stories of the day…[“1 World Trade Center” (The “Freedom Tower”) is now open for business, with a first tenant moving in.](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/conde-nast-moves-now-open-1-world-trade-center-article-1.1997198) I mean, jolly good for them and all that, but am I the only one who thinks it still looks kind of…boring? At best? The most remarkable part about it’s outline seems to be that it’s not a perfect rectangle. And the “spire” on top looks…like an object. I’ll give it that much, in definitely looks like something that was constructed. A few ridiculous Art Deco fins would have made the latter at least look distinct. But hell, _anything_ would make it look more distinct. I actually think adding giant video billboards _a la Blade Runner_ would improve it, _and_ make it look a damn sight more futuristic. 'Pay for themselves, too. It gets even worse when you see how the [other planned buildings](http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/1729/newoldwtc.jpg) for the new WTC complex are apparently going to look, in appearance, size, and orientation. They don’t even have a common design theme to tie it all together, aside from “glass.” And “blue.” And the artistic impressions I’ve seen of the [future, completed new Lower Manhattan skyline](http://www.nyhabitat.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/new-york-lower-manhattan-wtc-skyline-rendering-3.jpg) look similarly…_respectable_. Like _really nice_ vanilla pudding. But that could be any city. Reno has a more distinctive skyline. _Dallas_ has a more distinctive skyline. Bah. Sorry. Stupid, irrelevant artistic quibble I just wanted to get off my chest. Maybe to be more entertaining, I should have turned this into a poll of how the 1WTC/FT design could have been improved. Like, I dunno, by replacing the spire with a big tree. Even a [fake](http://www.wdwlive.com/photos/animal-kingdom/discovery-island/tree-of-life/tree-of-life-wallpaper-4-5.jpg) one. Or one of those wacky arm-flailing inflatable tube men, or a giant paper-mache King Kong. Or a big [“A.”](http://imageserver.moviepilot.com/aa-tower1-avengers-age-of-ultron-new-details-revealed.jpeg) _Something_. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/2 "2014-11-03T17:10:55Z")
If they added any of the things you suggest, it would not look like what it is designed to look like - a giant middle finger. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/3 "2014-11-03T17:17:52Z")
Well considering the old World Trade Center towers regularly made “most boring” or even “worst” major building lists, the new building makes sense. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/4 "2014-11-03T17:27:05Z")
What is find most distasteful is that it took 13 years to get built. The biggest middle finger we could have ever given the terrorists would have been to rebuild the just as they were in as short a time as possible. Instead we obliged them them by wasting American blood and treasure in a war that accomplished nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/5 "2014-11-03T17:29:16Z")
I like it. It has some visual interest, but it doesn’t have any weird features just to make the building “distinctive.” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/6 "2014-11-03T17:30:44Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Well considering the old World Trade Center towers regularly made “most boring” or even “worst” major building lists, the new building makes sense. Yea, I was a fan of the old buildings, even as boring as they were (it was their boringness that made them not boring…wait, do I sound like a hipster?), but I think the new one is fine. But, I also wish they’d have just rebuilt them as they were. Except with more fireproofing. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/7 "2014-11-03T17:34:12Z")
I’ve seen pictures only. I like it up until the spire, which looks like an ugly giant antenna to me. A gruesome addition only added to get it to the required 1776 feet. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/8 "2014-11-03T18:09:20Z")
I just want to know why it cost nearly four billion dollars. The Burj Khalifa still stands as the world’s tallest man-made anything at 2722 feet, and it cost only 1.5 billion, so “tall” can’t be the reason, and the Burj is not exactly a low-rent place, so “fancy” can’t explain it either. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/9 "2014-11-03T18:46:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Or one of those wacky arm-flailing inflatable tube men, I endorse this idea. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/10 "2014-11-03T18:51:00Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > If they added any of the things you suggest, it would not look like what it is designed to look like - a giant middle finger. [Sure it would.](http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/funnypictures/ig/100-Funny-Pictures/New-World-Trade-Center.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/11 "2014-11-03T18:58:36Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > I just want to know why it cost nearly four billion dollars. The Burj Khalifa still stands as the world’s tallest man-made anything at 2722 feet, and it cost only 1.5 billion, so “tall” can’t be the reason, and the Burj is not exactly a low-rent place, so “fancy” can’t explain it either. How much did the South Asian migrants who built the Burj Khalifa make per hour? ---
**Author:** ![Fallen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@Fallen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fallen)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/12 "2014-11-03T19:02:56Z")
“The Burj Khalifa still stands as the world’s tallest man-made anything at 2722 feet, and it cost only 1.5 billion, so “tall” can’t be the reason, and the Burj is not exactly a low-rent place, so “fancy” can’t explain it either.” Among other things, I suspect the average rate of pay for average construction worker on the BK was quite a lot less than that of people working in NYC. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/13 "2014-11-03T19:08:44Z")
At the risk of being labeled anti-patriotic or some other silly thing, I think that calling it Freedom Tower and making it 1776 feet tall is all kinds of hokey. I guess it’s a good thing no one consulted me, huh? I agree that the originals should have been rebuilt as they were. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/14 "2014-11-03T19:12:54Z")
Huh. Last time I paid attention, it was a hole in the ground and people were complaining nothing was being built. I agree with **FairyChatMom** about the hokey patriotism. Hey, I love my country; but I don’t need to proclaim it. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/15 "2014-11-03T19:17:42Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > At the risk of being labeled anti-patriotic or some other silly thing, I think that calling it Freedom Tower and making it 1776 feet tall is all kinds of hokey. I’m not American, so I’m allowed to think that’s rather eyerolling. [Edit - I mean, the building, not FCM’s comment.] In fact, here: :rolleyes: That said, it’s…a pretty building. Any of the stuff the OP suggests would make it far too busy. (And boring? Compared to the old buildings? At least this is an attractive colour and some shape other than ‘square’…) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/16 "2014-11-03T19:26:34Z")
> [@Fallen](#): > > “The Burj Khalifa still stands as the world’s tallest man-made anything at 2722 feet, and it cost only 1.5 billion, so “tall” can’t be the reason, and the Burj is not exactly a low-rent place, so “fancy” can’t explain it either.” > > Among other things, I suspect the average rate of pay for average construction worker on the BK was quite a lot less than that of people working in NYC. One World Trade Center is also built under the assumption that people are going to be ramming airplanes into it in an attempt to knock it down, which presumably requires a lot of expensive over-engineering. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/17 "2014-11-03T19:33:31Z")
It’s an stupid, ugly building with a cheesy name and a butt-ugly spire and I have look at it every day so puke. They did a nice job with the memorial garden though. It’s pretty now, in a few years it will be a true sanctuary. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/18 "2014-11-03T19:42:15Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > At the risk of being labeled anti-patriotic or some other silly thing, I think that calling it Freedom Tower and making it 1776 feet tall is all kinds of hokey. I guess it’s a good thing no one consulted me, huh? I agree that the originals should have been rebuilt as they were. I was also uncomfortable with “Freedom Tower,” which was redolent of “freedom fries” and other jingoistic stuff. I was somewhat relieved when I learned that the official name of the building is simply “One World Trade Center.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/19 "2014-11-03T19:49:20Z")
I like the design. It’s not just a rectangle plopped down in the middle of the city, like so many skyscrapers, but it’s also not so out there that it looks like an immature attention-grab. Though I’m not sure about the spire. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530/20 "2014-11-03T20:02:50Z")
The spire makes it look a bit like a gom jabbar. I like it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-the-only-one-who-thinks-the-new-1-world-trade-center-building-is-boring/703530.md?page=2)