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Inga can be harsh/dramatic, but she usually makes a lot of valid points. Frankly, there are a lot of horrible buildings being constructed these days in Philly, much more here than our neighbor to the north, and even though this isn't a 1000ft tall skyscraper, it is a more refreshing and attractive addition than some of the other s*** that is being proposed/built for our city.
Well, the new Whitney Museum, in NYC, is awful on the outside, just okay(imo)on the inside. The open ground floor restaurant is its best feature but food is not what people should be going there for. I wonder what Saffron thinks of it.
Of course the biggest example of "Meh" here is the proposal for the new Gallery space. Nothing even remotely interesting.
Inga can be harsh/dramatic, but she usually makes a lot of valid points. Frankly, there are a lot of horrible buildings being constructed these days in Philly, much more here than our neighbor to the north, and even though this isn't a 1000ft tall skyscraper, it is a more refreshing and attractive addition than some of the other s*** that is being proposed/built for our city.
It's not necessarily fair to compare any city the New York, however, as the obscene amount of money flowing around in that city is what contributes to more "starchitecture." Honestly, no other city can compare to the "high design" culture of NYC.
Even so, I'd have the generally disagree in that modern architecture in Philadelphia is generally getting better (looking at the new SLS, W Hotel, FMC and Comcast, these will definitely set a new standard for the city). Sure, there are plenty of others that are not necessarily earth-shattering in design, but they're far from s***. Essentially every new project in Philly is contributing greatly to revitalization on street-level vibrancy, which is much more important than statement-making design.
It's not necessarily fair to compare any city the New York, however, as the obscene amount of money flowing around in that city is what contributes to more "starchitecture." Honestly, no other city can compare to the "high design" culture of NYC.
Even so, I'd have the generally disagree in that modern architecture in Philadelphia is generally getting better (looking at the new SLS, W Hotel, FMC and Comcast, these will definitely set a new standard for the city). Sure, there are plenty of others that are not necessarily earth-shattering in design, but they're far from s***. Essentially every new project in Philly is contributing greatly to revitalization on street-level vibrancy, which is much more important than statement-making design.
Maybe s*** was harsh, because those are all great projects and many more in the works, but for all those good projects there are those of equal impact on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am all for growth and development, but proper planning is lacking in a lot of projects around town. Philly has always had the problem of poor preservation and good ideas that are poorly executed. Granted the city has gotten better from the 90s onward, but projects like the Boyd, 1900 Arch, the new Morman Tower, Home2suites, the proposed tower over the LIT building, new family court building are still being built, and we are still losing historic landmarks to mediocrity instead of building on ugly parking garages and parking lots.
I know Philly is not NYC, but lets not turn into a Houston.
Maybe s*** was harsh, because those are all great projects and many more in the works, but for all those good projects there are those of equal impact on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am all for growth and development, but proper planning is lacking in a lot of projects around town. Philly has always had the problem of poor preservation and good ideas that are poorly executed. Granted the city has gotten better from the 90s onward, but projects like the Boyd, 1900 Arch, the new Morman Tower, Home2suites, the proposed tower over the LIT building, new family court building are still being built, and we are still losing historic landmarks to mediocrity instead of building on ugly parking garages and parking lots.
I know Philly is not NYC, but lets not turn into a Houston.
I definitely sympathize with what you're saying, but actually--with the exception of the Boyd--all of those projects have replaced parking lots (also, it seems like many people have high hopes for the Mormon tower). So it's not like any of the more ho-hum buildings were a result of some great loss.
I think Philadelphia has done a much better job preserving its history than many cities (especially New York), but I agree with you that there needs to be more of a coherent vision and architectural standards in terms of the Philly's development and planning moving forward. As more of these large-scale projects come to fruition and are successful, I think we're really beginning to see that happen.
Location: NYC based - Used to Live in Philly - Transplant from Miami
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Originally Posted by cpomp
maybe s*** was harsh, because those are all great projects and many more in the works, but for all those good projects there are those of equal impact on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am all for growth and development, but proper planning is lacking in a lot of projects around town. Philly has always had the problem of poor preservation and good ideas that are poorly executed. Granted the city has gotten better from the 90s onward, but projects like the boyd, 1900 arch, the new morman tower, home2suites, the proposed tower over the lit building, new family court building are still being built, and we are still losing historic landmarks to mediocrity instead of building on ugly parking garages and parking lots.
I know philly is not nyc, but lets not turn into a houston.
Amazing the demand for retail in KoP. Nordstrom Rack is moving into a new town center complex, a 200k+ retail complex just across the street from the expanding KoP mall.
Amazing the demand for retail in KoP. Nordstrom Rack is moving into a new town center complex, a 200k+ retail complex just across the street from the expanding KoP mall.
Yet amazing how little retail growth and in demand center city is.
Inga can be harsh/dramatic, but she usually makes a lot of valid points. Frankly, there are a lot of horrible buildings being constructed these days in Philly, much more here than our neighbor to the north, and even though this isn't a 1000ft tall skyscraper, it is a more refreshing and attractive addition than some of the other s*** that is being proposed/built for our city.
To be fair..although there are a bunch of high profile high design projects going up in NYC, that's overshadowing the fact that there's a massive amount of pure garbage going up too!
Aside from the zillions of mid & high rise typical developer condo trash projects going up in all corners of the city, there's now a bland condo block the height of the empire state building casting shadows on central park, and now dominating the manhattan skyline from the north. And more similar towers will be rising nearby in short order.
Yet amazing how little retail growth and in demand center city is.
Are you forgetting the Nordstrom Rack that literally just opened in Center City last year? Lol.
Center City is 100% in demand right now for retailers, it's just not in demand for the top luxury retailers. That might change over time, but I think a lot of you forget that Center City is very much still a work in progress. It's going to take time for top-name retailers to notice. I would love to see more mid-ranged luxury but it's not as if no retailers are zoning in on Center City now. I mean there wouldn't be a massive 160,000 sq foot retail East Market development and Gallery redevelopment if there wasn't.
Over the past few years we saw Nordstrom Rack, Allen Edmonds, Camper, Forever 21, Indochino, Uniqlo, Intermix, Michael Kors, Vince, Madewell, Theory, New Balance, Timberlands, Vans, Suit Supply, My.Suit, Century 21, Goorin Brothers, etc. I know not all of these are SUPER hot, but there's some great top brands in there on both the mid-range and high end spectrum. That's a lot of new openings for a retail scene that's not "in-demand." And I know at the same time we lost Burberry, Coach, Juicy Couture. Arden B. and Kenneth Cole, but as I understand it, 3 of those 5 are on the way out as stand-alone stores anyways. The only truly sad loss is Burberry.
Give credit where credit is due. Center City retail is certainly turned up a notch, as well as Center City residential, office, commercial, hotel, restaurant and museum construction and development too.
Last edited by RightonWalnut; 05-23-2015 at 12:17 AM..
Maybe s*** was harsh, because those are all great projects and many more in the works, but for all those good projects there are those of equal impact on the opposite end of the spectrum. I am all for growth and development, but proper planning is lacking in a lot of projects around town. Philly has always had the problem of poor preservation and good ideas that are poorly executed. Granted the city has gotten better from the 90s onward, but projects like the Boyd, 1900 Arch, the new Morman Tower, Home2suites, the proposed tower over the LIT building, new family court building are still being built, and we are still losing historic landmarks to mediocrity instead of building on ugly parking garages and parking lots.
I know Philly is not NYC, but lets not turn into a Houston.
Come on man. This is complete hogwash and you know it. Not every city is seeing 100% flawlessly designed buildings. Have you seen some of the garbage going up in NYC, Houston, Seattle, San Francisco, DC, Miami, Los Angeles, etc. etc. It's everywhere, and not just in Philly.
And Philly, although 1900 Arch isn't a home run, or the Home2Suites, or the new Family Court Building, these all replaced parking lots.
You're forgetting about the nicely designed buildings too.
1. Comcast Innovation and Tech Center - gorgeous supertall 1,121 foot tower designed by world-renowned starchitect Lord Norman Foster. Replacing parking lot.
2. FMC Tower - gorgeous 730 tower designed by world-renowned starchitect Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli. Replacing empty lot.
3. Evo - nice design from Erdy McHenry. Replaced empty lot.
4. Mormon Temple and Tower - most think they're spectacular. Designed by world-renowned Robert A.M. Stern. Replacing two massive parking lots.
5. 205 Race - nice design replacing empty lot.
6. W Hotel - amazing design by CopeLinder replacing parking lot.
7. One Riverside - great design with multi-million dollar condos by Cecil Baker replacing parking lot.
8. 500 Walnut - great design with multi-million dollar condos by Cecil baker replacing empty lot
9. SLS International - gorgeous design by world-renowned starchitect Kohn Pederson Fox replacing two damage and abandoned structures and an empty lot.
10. CHOP 700 Schuylkill Tower - gorgeous design by world-renowned Ballinger replacing empty lot and parking garage.
11. Drexel University - the Summit, Chestnut Square and LeBow Building - all replacing under-utilized land designed by world-renowned architect Robert A.M. Stern
12. East Market - superb replacement for that ****box at the 1100 block of Market. Great street frontage and design by BLTA. 3601 Market and 3737 Chestnut are two other great designs finishing up in UCity by BLTA.
13. CHOP Buerger Center - gorgeous structure designed by Pelli Clark Pelli.
14. Nice smaller projects like the New Wistar Institute building, Penn Nanotech Center, Dalian on the Park, The Sansom, Penn Medicine at Washington Square, 15th and Walnut.
Point is a ton of nicely new designed buildings. Unfortunately they're not all going to be winners and you have to take the good with the bad. I believe Philly is currently getting a lot more good than bad. Not every design on paper translates to looking great when completed and with real life materials and it's sitting in the context of the city with other surrounding buildings.
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