Better : Worse : Same

[THE BIG APPLE]

Let’s play a game called ‘Better, Worse, Same’. In this game you choose a building. Then you research and locate the building that was on the site prior to the current building. You compare the buildings and then state whether the current building is BETTER (an improvement), WORSE (a mistake), or SAME (no change, both buildings are equal). If for example a parking lot was the prior site, then 99.9 percent of the time the current building is BETTER. If a prewar trophy was torn down for a crappy box, then the current building is WORSE. Finding buildings in the SAME category should be a doozy, for many.
I’m not picking any sides, or abhorring, but if we can, let’s try to stay in NYC as much as possible.
To get things started I’ll start it off.

Current: Empire State Building



Prior: Waldorf Astoria



BETTER




Current: Brooklyn Bridge Ramp



Prior: Park Row Buildings (NY World Building and Tribune Building)




WORSE




Current: Bank of NY Mellon Building (Irving Trust Building)



Prior: Number One Wall Street



SAME

[stormkingfan]

1. same (after a lot of thought. Tough one, since the ESB is one of my faves)

2. worse (access needed to B'klyn Br., but the beautiful unique domed bldg was demo-ed )

3. same (both pics have old fashioned NY bldgs)... wellllll, leaning a little towards better (Irvine Trust is more attractive)

[uaarkson]

Great idea for a thread. I'll be back with one after doing some digging.

[animatedmartian]

I like the idea of the thread. Though do we have to stick to just NYC?

[Chapelo]

Here's one from Los Angeles.

Current: City National Plaza (1972)



Previous: Richfield Tower. 1929, demolished 1969.



WORSE

[Muji]

Well, seeing as I've been making 'then and now' photos for a while now, I'll throw in a few of my faves.

Los Angeles

Blog post: http://urbandiachrony.wordpress.com/...aza-1939-2011/


Previously: Pershing Square central plaza (John Parkinson design)

Now: Pershing Square central plaza (Ricardo Legorreta and Laurie Olin design)

WORSE


Blog post: http://briangoestotown.blogspot.com/...ive-moved.html


Previously: The Brown Derby Restaurant (Wilshire Boulevard)

Now: Brown Derby Plaza

WORSE

Philadelphia

Blog post: http://briangoestotown.blogspot.com/...-art-club.html


Previously: Philadelphia Art Club (by Frank Miles Day)

Now: Bellevue-Stratford sports club and garage (by Michael Graves)

WORSE

[DrNest]

That's a though call on the ESB. The old Waldorf was a great looking building for sure.

[Illithid Dude]

Originally Posted by Chapelo

Here's one from Los Angeles.

Current: City National Plaza (1972)



Previous: Richfield Tower. 1929, demolished 1969.



WORSE

I've always been torn about this one. As much as I love the Richfield Tower, the City National Plaza is an incredible example of mid century high-rise design. I just wish they built around the Richfield Tower, and not over it, and then we could have the best of both worlds.

[DURKEY427]

How can you play this game without mentioning the singer building and one liberty plaza.
WORSE!

[jd3189]

I guess for a lot of these, the former will be always better.

[THE BIG APPLE]

Originally Posted by animatedmartian

I like the idea of the thread. Though do we have to stick to just NYC?

No, absolutely NOT. Chicago is fine. LA is fine. But Dubai is NOT. Dubai: Current - Building, Prior - Desert. Just a place that has history. Any place with history.

[THE BIG APPLE]

Current: Chrysler Building




Prior: William H Reynolds Buildings



BETTER




Current: General Motors Building



Prior: Savory-Plaza Hotel




WORSE




Current: 50 Broadway



Prior: Tower Building



SAME

[Yackemflaber69]

Prior:Medical Arts Building

http://www.cardcow.com/131319/medica...maha-nebraska/


Now: First National Bank tower

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=10498.0

Better

[Jonboy1983]

Big Apple, quick question...

In that "before" shot of the Chrystler Building, I see open parcels (open as in, no development, but apparently "no ground" either) in the vicinity of Grand Central. Are those cut-and-cover subway tunnels? If they are, holy heck!

More on-topic, I didn't see one yet for NY Penn Station and Madison Square Garden. It's probably not even worth it to mention. I'm sure our opinions will be close to 100 percent agreement.

One for Pittsburgh:

Former convention center to the behemoth of one they have now -- BETTER!!!!

Sorry, I do not possess any pics of either one.

[ThatOneGuy]

Waldorf Astoria to Empire State Building

Worse

[jd3189]

Current: New World Trade Center



Prior: Old World Trade Center



Prior: Hudson Terminal and Radio Row



Same

[DURKEY427]

^ I love that last photo.

[lakegz]

why oh why did you have to bring up the Brooklyn Bridge ramp and Park row? I would give my first child to be able to sit in the park and stare at the Tribune and World buildings for an hour.

[thomax]

Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Current: One James Street North Tower


Source


Prior: The Birks Building

Oscar Wilde called it "the most beautiful building in all of North America"


Source


Source



Current = WORSE

[The_Architect]

^ Wow I didn't know about that! And I worked down the street from that for 4 months.

Toronto:

Current: Queen-Bay Centre


Source.

Prior: Temple Building, 1896-1970 (One of Toronto's first skyscrapers and at one point Canada's largest building)




Source.

WORSE