Burns & Scale reveal 3 finalists for Downtown tower design: Vote for your favorite! (Pittsburgh: residential, architecture)

[Blackbeauty212]

I have feeling that they're going to go with GBBN...Not only is it sexy, but out of the 3 its the only one that says "Power" IMO...which believe it or not a lot HQs with "Corporate" in mind goes for. They want to have they're prominent place in the Skyline of said city. GBBN design says Corporate HQ's

EDIT: Now that I took a hard second look at it, IKM's design looks more like a Hotel and if this was a design for a Hotel I would go with IKM over GBBN....

[BrianTH]

Supposedly the as-yet-hypothetical anchor tenant could choose any of the eight submitted designs (or, I suspect, none of them). Among the three "finalists" (which I gather means they won a small cash prize and got some publicity) I would tend to agree the GBBN design is likely the most pleasing to the typical corporate palate, but I'd be interested in seeing the other five.

[Evergrey]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

Supposedly the as-yet-hypothetical anchor tenant could choose any of the eight submitted designs (or, I suspect, none of them). Among the three "finalists" (which I gather means they won a small cash prize and got some publicity) I would tend to agree the GBBN design is likely the most pleasing to the typical corporate palate, but I'd be interested in seeing the other five.

I'd be interested in seeing the other 5 as well... as I find it hard to believe the IKM design is a final 3 design... how bad were the others?

I also agree that the GBBN design would be the most attractive to a prospective corporate tenant. There have been whispers about Chevron being interested in this site as a regional HQ... I can imagine Chevron in the GBBN design... but not the other two.

[Eugo]

The IKM design might work well as an element of the skyline if not as a standalone piece of architecture. Its curvature not only references the bridge but also breaks up the monotonous rectangularity of the surrounding building cluster.

[PreservationPioneer]

I like the street-level interaction of the Desmone. GBBN looks like a lopsided box.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

By the way, the Desmonse design isn't my favorite, but I do think it does a good job looking like a very substantial building given the height limitations. Overall I'd be happy if any of these got built.

This.

[ML North]

I like the GBBN design. It creates an eclectic, almost Chicago-esque, type skyline from the Southern vantage points.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Eugo

The IKM design might work well as an element of the skyline if not as a standalone piece of architecture. Its curvature not only references the bridge but also breaks up the monotonous rectangularity of the surrounding building cluster.

Agreed--and incidentally, did you do the rendering yourself? Either way, thanks for posting it.

[greg42]

I just like hearing that they're moving forward and that they're paying attention to this aspect.

Not sure, I guess I like the GBBN better, but it's not a strong feeling.

[SammyKhalifa]

I like the GBBN as an idea in a vacuum, but I just don't think it looks right in that space (although I guess people would get used to it). I liked #2.