On Time-Lapse Rocket Ride to Trade Center’s Top, Glimpse of Doomed Tower

An imposingly realistic vision of 2 World Trade Center, the ultimately doomed south tower, will begin appearing next month in a most unlikely place: the five special elevators servicing the observatory atop the new 1 World Trade Center.

From the moment the doors close until they reopen 47 seconds later on the 102nd floor, a seemingly three-dimensional time-lapse panorama will unfold on three walls of the elevator cabs, as if one were witnessing 515 years of history unfolding at the tip of Manhattan Island.

For less than four seconds (roughly proportional to the time the twin towers stood), a jarringly familiar pinstripe facade will loom into view on one wall of the cab. Then, in a quick dissolve, it will evanesce.