Architect Sues Over Freedom Tower, Says Design Was Stolen from Him

The new One World Trade Center was designed by an architecture student who was never credited because one of his advisors stole the idea and submitted it as his own ... according to a new lawsuit.

In the docs, Jeehoon Park says he whipped up a 3D model for a 122-story building for his grad school thesis at the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. His design, completed in 1999, was intended for Chicago's Cityfront Center.

But Park says one of his advisors was an Associate Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) ... and he believes that firm had access to his design, and used it to build the Freedom Tower.

Park says side-by-side photos of his Cityfront model and Freedom Tower show a "striking similarity." He also points out a 2010 book discusses how SOM's design is closely related to Park's thesis.

Park, now an architect in Georgia, wants a fat paycheck from SOM for using his design ... and wants SOM to give him the credit he deserves.

We reached out to the firm ... no word back so far.