by Lionel Bascom — July 9th, 2008 — 1 comment
New York’s Freedom Tower is the symbol of American resilience after the mayhem of September 11 when terrorists destroyed the World Trade Centre and attacked the Pentagon, says Theage.com.au.
“And it’s also symbolic that a foreigner, Melbourne-born structural engineer Marc Colella has been given the responsibility of making sure the tower stays standing.
“Don’t think this is just an event that happened on American soil,” he says.
Mr Colella was initially surprised that such an emotionally charged project was given to an outsider.
While the opportunity to lead the project came “completely out of the blue”, hard work, perseverance “and a bit of luck” gave the 35-year-old the chance to showcase his talent.
Mr Colella visited Monash University, his former alma mater, recently for a presentation on the technical aspects of the highest-profile building site in the world.
The Freedom Tower, also known as Tower 1, will be 105 storeys tall, the same height as the Twin Towers. But a 120-metre spire that will house communication equipment pushes the building’s height to a symbolic level: 1776 feet, for the year of America’s declaration of independence.
“Americans are big on their symbolism,” says Mr Colella.
Perhaps the ultimate symbolic hope was to have the tower finished on September 11, 2011, but Mr Colella says “that’s just not gonna happen”.
The tower is expected to be completed by late 2012.
But it’s not just symbolism that Mr Colella has had to consider. After living in New York for 61/2 years, he says, “You’ve got to manage the way you’re perceived a lot more”.
“You have to put yourself forward in the right manner, with the right intentions. In New York, you’ve got to get that respect, or else they just bury you.”
While he admits there is tremendous pressure on the Freedom Tower project, Mr Colella says “it’s the Aussie way” to rise to a challenge.
“It’s more than just an engineering site. There are a lot of agencies and interests involved.
“The emotional and political implications complicate matters even further. You have to divorce yourself from emotion and treat this just like any other project.”
theage.com.au
9:05 PM in Uncategorized, The Construction, World Trade Center, Related Stories, Freedom Tower News, Politics
From what Mr. Colella has stated, perhaps he should reconsider his profession. If he has no emotional attachment to the work that he does, then how can he create? Where is the motivation behind his vision?
It seems to me that one’s passion is crucial when engaging in any creative endeavor. The last I considered working passionately on a project, umm, fifteen minutes ago, my emotions were definitely involved in the process. Like the old song goes, “You gotta have heart…”
Jeanne · July 9th, 2008 at 9:39 pm