Opened in 2014, One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, it rises to 1,776 feet with its spire, a height chosen to recall the year of the Declaration of Independence.
It stands at the heart of the rebuilt World Trade Center, beside the memorial pools that mark where the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001. Its footprint is a 200-foot square, nearly the same as those of the original towers. Above a fortified base, the corners are cut back as the tower rises, so its sides become eight tall triangles. Halfway up the plan forms a perfect octagon, and at the top it turns into a square again, rotated 45 degrees.
The One World Observatory, near the top of the tower, opened in 2015.
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