[buildup]

The Singer building was a victim of the times. In the late 60's the Singer building was a dirty, tired looking building. If it survived untouched into maybe the 80's that building would have been made historic (if it wasn't already) and renovated into an upscale residential property. They didn't do that in the 60's.

And many of the buildings mentioned as "dreadful" weren't considered ugly when they were built.

I think 1818 Market St. in Philly was built just before 1970. It was bare exposed concrete until they finally painted it sometime in the 1990's. I would say at worst 1818 Market St. was a bit of an eyesore but not dreadful. Until Williard Rouse III (a Philly skyscraper pioneer) lobbied to build higher Willian Penn's hat on City Hall, most of the newer skyscrapers at the time were fat, squat boxes.