World's Most Expensive Office Tower

The $3.8bn cost of Freedom

The Freedom Tower, New York's latest architectural wonder, is being built to replace the twin towers and has not exactly gone according to plan

As a symbol that the US could bounce back from 9/11 and regain its global mojo, the Freedom Tower hasn't exactly worked as planned. Possibly the only "freedom" now associated with New York's twin towers replacement is budgetary: it is unofficially the most expensive office tower ever built, having now cost approximately $3.8bn (£2.3bn), almost twice the original estimate. And it's not finished yet.

If the Freedom Tower represents anything, it's that bygone era when George W Bush was a credible leader, Osama bin Laden was public enemy number one, and the fear was that Wall Street would be occupied by al-Qaida rather than students protesting about financial mismanagement. The Empire State Building was also built during a recession, but back then the greatest public enemy was Al Capone. Prohibition was about to end, the New Deal was on the way, and everyone was too busy thinking about making money to agonise over the past. In retrospect, that looks like freedom.