City puts its faith in tower of strength

One World Trade Center is a fitting tribute to 9/11 victims, John Riordan reports from New York

THE narrow lift is more akin to a cage and the buttons which control it are unglamorous and industrial: green for go and red for stop.

These functional surroundings are more than enough for now. One World Trade Center, previously known as the Freedom Tower, has topped out at 105 floors but it’s still one of the most complex building sites in the world. The signature skyscraper of a resculpted Lower Manhattan has cast an increasingly glorious shadow over the financial district since its foundations were finally completed in 2010 after a tense period of design, redesign and construction.