One WTC tops off at a majestic 1,776 feet (a nod to the year the U.S. declared its independence), earning it the title of tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
Its height includes a 408-foot spire, which was officially deemed part of the architecture and not, as some argued, a superfluous antenna.
That needle serves as an elegant crown for the 104-story glass tower, which rises from a square footprint but angles inward after the 20th floor,
creating a crystalline form consisting of eight isosceles triangles, each a gleaming curtain wall.