http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-first-...ory-1432678928
A First Look at the Freedom Tower’s One World Observatory
Offering vistas previously limited to photographs from helicopters.
Video screens mounted under the floor show live images from outdoor cameras.
By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
May 26, 2015
Quote:
The first time I visit—propelled upward a quarter of a mile in an elevator to One World Observatory—it is clear that something momentous is being promised. The observatory, which opens on May 29 at One World Trade Center, calls these five elevators “Sky Pods.” They are enclosed with three walls lined with floor-to-ceiling LED screens so bright and crisp, they could be windows on lower Manhattan. But as we whoosh from the bedrock to the 102nd floor in 47 seconds, instead of seeing the cityscape receding below, we see time-lapse images representing 500 years of history. Lenape wigwams and longhouses give way to early Dutch settlements, and onward: the growth of Wall Street, the evolution of the Battery, the proliferation of skyscrapers and the sounds of contemporary life. For a few seconds, as decades of the 20th century race by, one of the World Trade Center towers fills the eastward screen, then suddenly disappears.
There is no intention here to mourn the destruction; that is reserved for ground level for the 9/11 memorial and museum. Here we are in a building meant to replace those destroyed towers; the preoccupation is not with the past, but the present.
So after leaving the Sky Pod, you enter a long, narrow and high-ceilinged room. One wall is a composite of screens, sparkling with prismatic light, echoing the sliced reflective geometry of the new tower. Then comes a thumping two-minute video paean to New York—“dynamic, diverse and ever-changing”—a kaleidoscope of city life. “Prepare,” we are also told, “to see forever.”
As the music reaches a climax, the screens in the darkened room begin to rise. On my first visit, as the screens lift, a wall of windows begins to let in a wash of light. We look outward. And we see—nothing, a uniform whiteness. When we are ushered into the circular observatory wrapped around the building, allowing a 360-degree survey of the cityscape through two-story-high windows, they still show an unbroken blankness. The building is cloaked in mist and rain.
There are compensations for such occasions, including four guides who are called “global ambassadors.” Each is stationed at the center of a ring of HD video screens that respond to the guide’s gestures, offering visitors high-tech surveys of the city. For a fee, a tablet is available that provides an interactive survey of the surrounding landmarks. There are also three dining areas. And a gift shop. But some significant portion of the expected three million to four million annual visitors are bound to be stymied by weather and may not be able to try again. That is unfortunate.
Because when I return the next day, the cinematic unveiling reveals, through the windows, a magnificent north-facing aerial view of a great city. From the top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, New York looks as it has only been seen in photographs from helicopters; you can note its contours and contortions, its areas of thrust and repose, the way its harbor and rivers still pose as its lifeline, though it now has uncountable pulsing arteries.
The observatory will, I think, quickly establish itself as a premier tourist stop, offering something not easily found, even at other observation points. The company operating it, Legends, which has experience managing popular spectacles, is selling timed adult tickets for $32 (with an additional $15 for the tablet); up to a thousand visitors an hour can be accommodated. (Hettema Group was the lead designer, with features created by Local Projects, Blur Studios and Mouse Trap. MADGI was the lead architect.)
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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2015/0...nary_views.php
http://www.businessinsider.com/one-w...-photos-2015-5
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