Quote:
Originally Posted by Chicago103
They truly were amazing buildings. The rooftop observatory was probably the most unique ever built because it was the only place on top of a super-tall open to the public where there was nothing but air above you. Other outdoor decks such as on the Burj Khalifa, Taipei101 or even the ESB all have part of the building above them. If we in Chicago opened a deck on the roof of the Aon Center it would be the closest thing to imitating what the WTC rooftop deck had.
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I got to visit the WTC observatory in 2000. It remains my favorite of all skyscraper observatories, because of the combination of the outdoor deck (giving you the opportunity to, as another poster said, see the building you were standing on) and the indoor deck where you could get right up to the window and really look down at the rest of downtown. People were/are critical of the complex for being "anti-urban", but to me it felt like it encompassed a lot of public space, with the plaza, lower level mall, two observatory floors in #2 and Windows on the World in #1. There's a lot of optimism about the new complex being much better overall, but it remains to be seen if it will have the same feeling of being open to the public.
I love the black and white picture of Windows on the World a few posts up. Too bad I never got to experience that. Look at how ESB is perfectly centered in the view, too. I guess the view from the restaurant at the top of the new #1 will be pretty much the same.
Looking through the pictures in this thread, it's interesting to notice that they all look at least somewhat old. Of course there are the construction photos and others that are obviously from another era, but even the newest-looking pictures of the towers reveal how much time has passed since their destruction. They all depict people with outdated hair and clothing styles, or were obviously taken with film or primitive digital cameras. Just a thought...