The new World Trade Center complex currently under construction in Manhattan, New York City is a very ambitious project designed to fulfill multiple roles: stand out as a symbol for national strength and freedom, pay homage to the victims fallen during the terrorist acts on 9-11, as well as provide people with thousands of job opportunities and bring a major contribution to the local economy. Regarded as a controversial and challenging concept a few years ago, the new World Trade Center complex has recently begun to take shape, revealing the monumental figure of an infrastructure complex that corroborates latest technology materials and advanced security features with innovative, interesting, modern and unconventional designs. When completed, the complex will comprise the Freedom Tower, three adjacent tall buildings, a residential tower, a museum and a cultural center.

Although the project is far from being completed (the new World Trade Center is expected to be completed by 2012), it has already become very popular worldwide and has generated lots of divergent public opinions. While some people consider the project to be more spectacular and interesting than the previous constructions, others regard it as too ambitious and radical, claiming that the new complex should share more characteristics with its predecessor.

People who aren’t very impressed by the magnitude and the sumptuous character of the new project are concerned about the efficiency and the reliability of the security measures incorporated in the designs. However, the team of architects, engineers and constructors in charge with bringing the colossal, imposing World Trade Center buildings to life have assured everyone that the new complex will not only be impressive through size and aspect, but also through safety and efficiency.

The signature of the magnificent World Trade Center complex is undoubtedly the Freedom Tower (World Trade Center Tower 1), the centerpiece building of the new project. The Freedom Tower has a monumental yet very modern aspect and includes many symbolic features. First of all, the total height of the structure (from its base to the top of the spire) will be 1776 feet, making reference to the year 1776, when the United States Declaration of Independence was established and made public. Once completed, the Freedom Tower will also become the tallest building in the United States (surpassing the Sears Tower in height) and among the tallest buildings in the world.

The shape of the Freedom Tower will resemble a gigantic Egyptian Obelisk, adding new, innovative features to the popular and ancient obelisk design (the aim of the teams of architects and engineers is to situate the Freedom Tower at the crossroads between modern and traditional, slightly modifying the popular obelisk design and using innovative materials for the construction). One on top of the other, the Freedom Tower is expected to be a masterpiece in terms of design and engineering, combining advanced functionality with state-of-the-art technology and great engineering.