Madam, - An article in your edition of July 22nd inaccurately portrayed Daniel Libeskind's role in the revised design of the Freedom Tower and neglected to credit David M Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP as the designer of the building.
Mr Libeskind collaborated with the architectural firm of Skidmore Owings & Merrill in the original design of the Freedom Tower which was unveiled in December 2003. That design was scrapped in 2005 due to security concerns.
The New York City Police Department felt that Mr Libeskind's master plan for the World Trade Center sited the Freedom Tower too close to a major highway.
The Freedom Tower was therefore relocated to a less vulnerable location and redesigned by David Childs of SOM.
Although Mr Libeskind played no role in the current design of the Freedom Tower, we are pleased that he is delighted with the end result. - Yours, etc,
ELIZABETH HARRISON KUBANY,
Director of Public Relations,
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP,
Wall Street,
New York,
USA.