SLINGS AND ARROWS.(Daniel Libeskind and designs for the World Trade Center site)

Every time a new design element for Ground Zero is announced, the presentation room overflows with public officials. Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg give speeches hailing the planning process as democracy in action and congratulate each other for making it all possible, and the architects describe their projects in a humble, low-key manner. Protocol is as precise as that of a state dinner, and everyone is excruciatingly polite. But it was a hard act to bring off at the press conference in mid-December where the design for Freedom Tower, which is intended to be the world's tallest skyscraper, was unveiled. David Childs, the architect who was in charge of the design, and ...