For those of us who live in New York, the ascent of One World Trade Center seemed to happen in real life almost as fast as is does in this video. For years there was nothing but a cavity downtown—a constant reminder of mourning and loss that would send a shudder down your spine every time you happened to drive down the west side highway. Then, all of a sudden—bam. There it was. It seemed like you could miss it if you blinked.

It’s hard to believe construction began almost 6 years ago, but it did, in 2006. Now it’s almost done, and its shiny ascent is a reminder that we now live in a different world. Osama bin Laden is dead, and Conde Nast will soon be moving in as one of the new tenants of a remade downtown.

As we continue to remember 9/11 more than a decade later on what has become our only nationally acknowledged tragedy, take one minute and 22 seconds to see it in a new light.