NEW YORK | One World Trade Center | 1,776' Pinnacle / 1,373' Roof | 108 FLOORS

[Onn]

No, even with all the chefs in the kitchen, part of keeping things cohesive was keeping the materials common across all four buildings, with each architect having his own take on it. The only one that really deviated was Foster, with his original idea of a gradient ranging from the darker glass used in the notches to the common glass of the other buildings and that was cut.

It's really hard to see that, even Maki's tower might be similar in theory to 7 but is going to look completely different from all the others. I don't see much relation in tower 2 or 3, especially 3 with all that bracing on it. They might use similar materials but they are going to look nothing alike, probably not even the cladding because the rest of the towers are vastly different.

And you're clearly not listening when I tell you renders are NOT a good guide of a final product. You aren't familiar with the process or the tools. You have no idea. I can have a piece of the stuff sitting right in front of me and can still get it completely wrong. Look at the completed projects section and tell me how many renders were spot on. I can recall maybe 2, and those guys have access to more specialized tools than I do, and have had actual training.

Well yeah, I understand what you’re saying. But these are far more detailed renders than most out there, because this is the most high-profile project in the world today. It's not like these were just thrown together by a one man team or used some commercial level modeling software. These are the real deal. I would be inclined to believe the latest renders we have, they seem to look pretty on track with what I'm seeing (barring no secret protective film).

[STR]

Originally Posted by Onn

It's really hard to see that, even Maki's tower might be similar in theory to 7 but is going to look completely different from all the others. I don't see much relation in tower 2 or 3, especially 3 with all that bracing on it. They might use similar materials but they are going to look nothing alike, probably not even the cladding because the rest of the towers are vastly different.

Well yeah, I understand what you’re saying. But these are far more detailed renders than most out there, because this is the most high-profile project in the world today. It's not like these were just thrown together by a one man team or used some commercial level modeling software. These are the real deal. I would be inclined to believe the latest renders we have, they seem to look pretty on track with what I'm seeing (barring no secret protective film).

It's clear to me that you don't know what I, or you, are talking about. So I'm going to wish you a good night and ask that you drop it. I no longer wish to explain it to you.

[pattali]

Happy Thanksgiving !

[NYguy]

From the Discovery cam, interesting pre-dawn shot...

[rider15]

1WTC is now taller then 2 WFC

[NYguy]

newhannibal112

[gttx]

Originally Posted by STR

It's clear to me that you don't know what I, or you, are talking about. So I'm going to wish you a good night and ask that you drop it. I no longer wish to explain it to you.

I work for one of the firm's involved with this project and, while I don't do much of the modeling myself, I can tell you that trusting the renderings completely is pretty silly. They are made to impress people (the client, prospective tenants, in this case the public) - NOT to be complete, accurate depictions of exactly what is being built. Are they pretty darn close? Sure. But no sense in having an argument about materials based on small changes in renderings.

And, for the record, that last photo is pretty slick.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by gttx

I can tell you that trusting the renderings completely is pretty silly. They are made to impress people (the client, prospective tenants, in this case the public) - NOT to be complete, accurate depictions of exactly what is being built.

I think that discussion was over (or should be taken somewhere else). As it is, everyone knows there will be a difference between reality and a rendering. For one thing, one's real, the other is not. That's true for all developments. Let's just all be patient, and watch what gets built.

[RKOwens44]

Originally Posted by gttx

And, for the record, that last photo is pretty slick.

Agreed. It's also the best photo I've seen in which you can clearly see that the height of 1WTC has just surpassed the height of 1WFC with its latest height increase. Another 3 more jumps (6 floors) and it will surpass 2WFC.

[STR]

If you look at the ripples in the left corner piece, that looks a lot like film that started to detach in a few places. Nobody would accept THAT from their supplier. So good news, it really does look like there's more to be uncovered, literally.

[Traynor]

^A clear film that was wrinkled would show both its own wavy reflections and the pure flat reflections of the underlying glass, superimposed over each other.

On the other hand, a completely mirrored plastic coating, such as Mylar, would only show its own wavy reflections, but not be transparent enough to show the structure behind the glass, as is seen on the panels on the right.

Are we actually seeing internal coatings between the laminated sheets on the left, and pure sky from the outer glass layer on the right?

[STR]

^It's clearly not fully opaque, like mylar. However, if it's semi-transparent, it would reduce the reflection of the glass beneath by absorbing and diffusing the light that passes through. Unless it's specifically designed as such, like polarized materials, reflections are from the surface layer. Anything beneath gets scattered.

[Onn]

My question is how often do they bring cladding to a site with some sort of film over it? Almost never... ever. So it seems unlikely that would be the case here. The distortions in the above picture do look rather strange, but from other angles taken those same pieces look perfectly mirrored too like the ones on the right.


Take a look at this picture, some of the cladding on the far right is both blurry and mirrord at the same time. Does that mean only half the film was pulled off those pieces?



Looks to me like it has something to do with which way the light is bouncing off the glass.

[uaarkson]

^^ The ones on the right are reflecting a building and the sky. You can't see distortions in the sky because it has no discernible texture.

I'm doubtful of the plastic film theory, but that's Zen's guess and I trust his more than anyone's. Crossing my fingers.

[Onn]

Originally Posted by uaarkson

^^ The ones on the right are reflecting a building and the sky. You can't see distortions in the sky because it has no discernible texture.

I see what you’re saying. The building being reflected on the right is still incredibly distorted. I don't know, it's possible the two cladding pieces on the left closest to the corner are getting a reflection of a building too...aka Goldman Sachs.

[uaarkson]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's GS.

[STR]

I'm pretty sure it's a film at this point. Almost no distortion on the piece before it left the factory, just like the mockup, and absolutely nothing like what we're seeing in the SW corner piece. At this point I'm looking for a photo of the SW corner to see if there's a shot of it before the cover came loose, which would be the definitive proof. EDIT: The "ripple" doesn't look like it was there a month ago.







EDIT: From NYGuy's post on 11/19

[NYCLuver]

I don't know, the facade problem is strange lol. I mean those closer to the corner look so distorted, but then look at the panes near the elevator shaft, complete mirror like quality, no distortions. So who knows what the problem is haha.

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

heres an idea why doesn't someone just go down to the site and ask a construction worker if the glass has a film on it

[Onn]

Originally Posted by SkyscrapersOfNewYork

heres an idea why doesn't someone just go down to the site and ask a construction worker if the glass has a film on it

No, we would rather argue about it for days on end...

(Might not be a bad idea.)

I agree with NYCLuver though, this whole cladding thing is weird.