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LMDC announces architects will collaborate on tower at WTC site
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The architectural firm of Skidmore Owings & Merrill will work in conjunction with Daniel Libeskind, master planner for the World Trade Center site, to design the 1,776-foot-tall Freedom Tower planned for Ground Zero, officials of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation announced early Wednesday morning.
The agreement to collaborate addresses concerns of developer Larry Silverstein, the WTC-site leaseholder who will build the tower. Libeskind had never designed a skyscraper before, whereas SOM has considerable experience in that regard.
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| Architects and rebuilding officials study the site at Ground Zero |
Silverstein, Libeskind, Rampe, SOM consulting partner David Childs, and the Port Authority's Edmond Schorno assembled at the edge of the site on Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the accord.
Libeskind and Silverstein have "worked out a great collaborative relationship," Rampe said. The agreement "keeps us moving forward."
Libeskind himself said it was time to "roll up our sleeves and get to work."
In a joint statement issued earlier in the day, Silverstein, Libeskind, and Childs had said that SOM "will serve as design architect and project manager, leading a project team that will design the [Freedom] Tower."
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| David Childs, Daniel Libeskind and Larry Silverstein |
Studio Daniel Libeskind, the statement continued, "will serve as collaborating architect during the concept and schematic design phases of the Freedom Tower and a full member of the project team."
Libeskind's renderings vividly depict the tower and spire that are to comprise one of the site's signature elements; it is unclear how those designs might be altered as a result of the collaboration. But the statement pledged that the collaboration "will facilitate the development of the Freedom Tower in a manner consistent with the Libeskind vision."
SOM had been a participant in the competition to design the site master plan, but withdrew in December after it agreed to work for Silverstein on the adjacent 7 World Trade Center.
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