Design of world's tallest tower revised

NEW YORK, Dec. 15 (UPI) -- New York Gov. George E. Pataki Monday unveiled a new and very different design plan for the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site.

The new plan bears little resemblance to the angular, asymmetrical design originally drawn up by architect Daniel Libeskind to suggest the silhouette of the State of Liberty in nearby New York Harbor.

The new plan, disclosed at a news conference called by Pataki, is one designed by David M. Childs, the architect for the tower's developer, Larry A. Silverstein. Childs was brought into the project to cooperate in drawing up a final plan after the Libeskind's design concept for the tower was selected by city and state officials last spring.

Childs' tower is a sleek, tapering structure, and the 70-story occupied part of the tower will rise only 1,100 feet, 200 feet shorter than the twin towers destroyed by terrorists Sept. 11, 2003. An open-air structure secured by cables and trusses will rise above the office tower to complete the structure at a symbolic 1,776 feet, higher than the world's tallest building, the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The structure will be topped with a broadcasting antenna that will reach 2,000 feet above the Ground Zero site.