Photo © WTC Tower 1, LLC
One World Trade Center will be the nation’s tallest building when it opens next year, a Chicago-based tall buildings council announced Tuesday, a decision that drew a quick rebuke from Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The decision by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) hinged on whether the tower’s mast was a spire, which counts in height measurements, or an antenna, which doesn’t. “Even though the cladding was taken off the spire, you can still see that it is an architectural element,” said Antony Wood, executive director of CTBUH. “It is not just a plain steel mast from which to hang antenna or satellite dishes.”