Freedom Tower to rise 1,776 feet from ashes

CNN

The designers are claiming it will be the world's tallest building.

I like the new tower. But I don't think it will be world's tallest building. I've already said what I think about ornamental spires: they don't count. As you can see from this picture, the Sears Tower is much taller than Petronas and Taipei 101 if you take out the latter two's spires. Why is this fair? Because the Sears tower has "spires" too, but they supposedly don't count because they're useful. Better to just make the top floor the high point. Plus, to the untrained observer (like me), the top floor is where my eye focuses when I look to the "top" of a building.

Now, look at the Freedom Tower. Without the spire (not to mention the antenna), it's about as tall as the Chrysler Building. That's as high as anyone working there will go. I think that the Freedom Tower will be very impressive as an object, but the Sears Tower still stands, in my mind, as the tallest building around.

Not that anyone really cares. But that's what this site is for, things only we care about!