Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, discussion began about what, if anything, to build in place of the fallen Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. After years of planning, negotiation, and false starts, a complex of towers, memorials, and a museum was settled on—its main building a super-tall structure called “Freedom Tower.” Construction of the tower began in 2006. In 2009, the skyscraper was officially renamed One World Trade Center. In 2012, it became the tallest building in New York City. In 2013, its spire was added, allowing One World Trade Center to reach its final height of 1,776 feet, and in 2014, the building opened for business. The final cost of the 104-story tower, which boasts 3 million square feet of rentable space, was more than $3.9 billion. Collected here, a look at the construction and development of the new One World Trade Center, and how it has changed the skyline of New York City.
From Cornerstone to Skyscraper: One World Trade Center
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Read moreOne World Trade Center towers above the buildings of Lower Manhattan as the sun sets on New York City on September 2, 2016, viewed from Hoboken, New Jersey. #
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Read moreOn July 4, 2004, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (third from right, in a red tie) reveals the cornerstone for the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero during an unveiling ceremony. Disagreements over cost, design, and control pushed the start of construction back and shifted the footprint, so the cornerstone was later temporarily removed from the site, nearly two years after it was laid with much fanfare. #
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Read moreA U.S. flag hangs from a crane in the World Trade Center construction site during the seventh annual 9/11 commemoration ceremony on September 11, 2008, in New York City. #
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Read moreThe welder Winston Blair drills a steel plate at the Freedom Tower construction site in New York on March 25, 2008. #
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Read morePeople view construction at the World Trade Center site where the Freedom Tower is being built on September 10, 2008. #
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Read moreConstruction of One World Trade Center continues in September 2009, as the structure rises above street level. 2009 was the year the Port Authority officially changed the name of the structure from Freedom Tower to One World Trade Center. #
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Read morePeople stand around the reflecting pool during the eighth-anniversary remembrance of the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., in New York City on September 11, 2009. In the background are the beginnings of the One World Trade Center tower. #
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Read moreAn ironworker walks on a beam at the One World Trade Center construction site on March 25, 2010. #
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Read morePeople watch out the window as construction continues at the World Trade Center site on March 26, 2010. #
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Read moreConstruction continues at the One World Trade Center site and the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in Lower Manhattan on June 25, 2010. #
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Read moreA construction worker adjusts steel bars inside the in-progress One World Trade Center tower on August 31, 2010. #
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Read moreOne World Trade Center rises in Lower Manhattan on August 31, 2010 #
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Read moreA worker stands on scaffolding near the base of One World Trade Center on December 9, 2010. #
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Read moreThe beginnings of a glass facade wrap around the One World Trade Center building, under construction at Ground Zero, on December 23, 2010, in New York City. #
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Read moreA construction supervisor walks down a stairwell on the eastern face of One World Trade Center on January 6, 2011, in New York City. At the time, the tower had reached 52 floors, roughly halfway to its final height. Workers were adding nearly a floor a week to the building. #
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Read moreA man takes a photo of One World Trade Centert on September 10, 2011, in New York City, ahead of the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. #
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Read moreThe Tribute in Light is illuminated, visible with the Statue of Liberty and the incomplete One World Trade Center to the left, on September 10, 2011, during events marking the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. #
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Read moreA model of the future World Trade Center site is shown at the World Trade Center development offices overlooking the Ground Zero construction site, during a media update on the designs and construction plans for three World Trade Center towers being developed, on September 6, 2007. #
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Read moreOne World Trade Center, the central skyscraper at Ground Zero, stands under construction on January 30, 2012. #
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Read moreOne World Trade Center (left) rises in the New York skyline on April 30, 2012. On that day, the tower officially surpassed the Empire State Building as the tallest building in New York City. #
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Read moreOne World Trade Center emerges from the clouds in the night sky on March 11, 2013. #
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Read moreAn ironworker leans on a safety fence atop One World Trade Center to look at the New York skyline on May 10, 2013. #
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Read moreA U.S. flag flies in the wind as the final piece of One World Trade Center's spire is lifted to the top of the building on May 2, 2013. #
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Read moreThe final section of the spire is installed atop One World Trade Center on May 10, 2013. After more than 11 years of construction and planning, One World Trade Center reached its final height of 1,776 feet. #
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Read moreThe New York skyline stretches to the horizon as seen from atop One World Trade Center on May 10, 2013. Workers cheered and whistled as they completed the spire, raising the building to its full height, and helping to fill a void in the skyline left by the September 11, 2001, attacks. #
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Read moreOne World Trade Center and the Tribute in Light are seen in Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2013. #
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Read moreThe elevator bank inside One World Trade Center, which opened for business on November 3, 2014. #
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Read morePeople peer through the windows of One World Observatory, the observation deck in One World Trade Center, as the Tribute in Light installation shines in Lower Manhattan on September 11, 2015. #
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Read moreAn aerial view, looking down on One World Trade Center and its spire, and the Oculus Transportation Hub (right), on September 8, 2016, in New York City #
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Read morePeople watch the sun set over New Jersey from One World Observatory on September 8, 2017. #
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Read moreSunset falls on the skyline of Lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center on December 26, 2017, as seen from Weehawken, New Jersey. #
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Read moreOne World Trade Center stands above the clouds, as seen from a passenger aircraft on September 11, 2018. #
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