Final decision made on tallest building in US
THE TALLEST building in the US changed yesterday, after a committee of architectural experts decided that One World Trade Centre is 1,776 feet tall, about 50 feet larger than the Willis tower in Chicago.
The aptly named Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat revealed its official and final decision which building is the tallest in the United States, announcing that the Willis Tower had been knocked from the top spot. Until four years ago, the Willis Tower was known as the Sears Tower.
The needle atop One World Trade accounts for around 300 feet of the building’s height, with advocates or the Willis Tower criticising the measurement criteria.
It is not the first time that a New York spire has provoked disagreement about America’s tallest building: in 1930, the Chrysler building’s spire was constructed secretly before being attached to the top, making the tower taller than 40 Wall Street, then owned by Bank of Manhattan.