One World Observatory

The One World Observatory occupies the one hundredth, one hundred first, and one hundred second floors of One World Trade Center. You reach this height by way of the SkyPod elevators, which climb all one hundred two stories in just forty-seven seconds. During that ascent, the interior walls of the elevators transform into floor-to-ceiling screens that play a high-definition time-lapse video. This animation depicts the transformation of the New York City skyline from the Dutch colonial era of the sixteen hundreds up to the modern day, effectively compressing over four centuries of urban expansion into your less-than-a-minute journey.