PHILADELPHIA | 1301 Market Street | 460 FT | 32 FLOORS

[skyscraper]

Originally Posted by Mr Saturn64

Further east, particularly at 8th and Market, buildings over 700' could work really well, and bring the skyline further east, as University City and its skyscrapers begin to come up, making the skyline, as viewed from the south and north, very wide.

Wide, but one-dimensional. they all basically line up in a very small corridor of 3-4 blocks either side of market street.
But more to the point, are we interested in the design of buildings or designing skylines? skylines are organic byproducts, not something that should be foremost in a building designer's mind. an afterthought at best. a developer doesn't care what effect a building has on the skyline except when his building is the tallest in a city.

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

Wide, but one-dimensional. they all basically line up in a very small corridor of 3-4 blocks either side of market street.
But more to the point, are we interested in the design of buildings or designing skylines? skylines are organic byproducts, not something that should be foremost in a building designer's mind. an afterthought at best. a developer doesn't care what effect a building has on the skyline except when his building is the tallest in a city.

Good post. You're right about the one-dimensional part. I hope for more North-South development in my lifetime such as along Broad and along both rivers, especially the Delaware, which I believe has enormous untapped potential.

[Milksteak]

Originally Posted by jjv007

Good post. You're right about the one-dimensional part. I hope for more North-South development in my lifetime such as along Broad and along both rivers, especially the Delaware, which I believe has enormous untapped potential.

Especially to the North, which I finally think is being recognized with the Alexander, the new Police HQ, the Chinatown tower, and some of the residential proposals floating out there. Not to mention the fact that Temple is such a short distance away and the abundance of empty lots and old warehouses that could be converted. South of Center City has been a pretty well established residential area for some time now, but projects like the CHOP tower (and hopefully subsequent phases) are helping stretch the skyline.

[McBane]

Eh, we may not have tall skyscrapers, but there is plenty of N-S depth. You want to see one-dimensional? Check out Atlanta/Peachtree Street.

[Knight Hospitaller]

For what it's worth, the skyline looks very full from the north or south. Sure it would be nice to fill the Center City to U. City gap and to stretch things east as well, but we have it pretty good. The skyline also looks decent from the east or west, albeit much narrower. Aesthetically speaking, the biggest area for "improvement" is the view down the parkway or from Belmont. Northward development would have the biggest impact on "balancing" the current skew to the right. "One dimensional" wouldn't be bad if it occurred along the main axes of N. Broad and E. Market.

[JohnIII]

Originally Posted by Knight Hospitaller

For what it's worth, the skyline looks very full from the north or south. Sure it would be nice to fill the Center City to U. City gap and to stretch things east as well, but we have it pretty good. The skyline also looks decent from the east or west, albeit much narrower. Aesthetically speaking, the biggest area for "improvement" is the view down the parkway or from Belmont. Northward development would have the biggest impact on "balancing" the current skew to the right. "One dimensional" wouldn't be bad if it occurred along the main axes of N. Broad and E. Market.

We have a very nice skyline; most cities in America don't have buildings over 900'. Also other then New York and Chicago we may be the only American city that has 3 buildings over 900'. I wish Mellon Tower was built to the original height because then we would have had 4.

To spread the skyline out in full for the full effect of the north to south view we only really need 5 to 6 buildings; if anyone would do a model it would show this concept well.

We need 3 buildings over 800' in the Center City West/Schuykill Yards/30th Street area. 1 or 2 near 8th and Market. And 1 on the Delaware Water Front. I never get time to talk much due to my work but I've drawn models of this as an elevation; it seems nice.

[1487]

Originally Posted by JohnIII

We have a very nice skyline; most cities in America don't have buildings over 900'. Also other then New York and Chicago we may be the only American city that has 3 buildings over 900'. I wish Mellon Tower was built to the original height because then we would have had 4.

To spread the skyline out in full for the full effect of the north to south view we only really need 5 to 6 buildings; if anyone would do a model it would show this concept well.

We need 3 buildings over 800' in the Center City West/Schuykill Yards/30th Street area. 1 or 2 near 8th and Market. And 1 on the Delaware Water Front. I never get time to talk much due to my work but I've drawn models of this as an elevation; it seems nice.

How about Houston? I would think they may have 3 over 900. Or Atlanta.

[Jawnadelphia]

Originally Posted by 1487

How about Houston? I would think they may have 3 over 900. Or Atlanta.

Houston does (barely)
#3 tallest in that city is exactly 900ft - Williams Towers (274.6m = 900ft).

Atlanta does not--
#2 tallest - Sun Trust Plaza is 871ft.

[jjv007]

I wasn't referencing height particularly. Just mentioning that the skyline is quite thin going north-south. Doesn't mean it's not a good one. As a student at Temple, the skyline just looks very two-dimensional from the north, without much depth. Just an observation.

[iheartphilly]

Plenty of great pics shared here and online to show our skyline as "full", but outside of the core when walking around, it doesn't feel as dense building wise like NYC or Chicago. The upside is that we have plenty of parking lots to continue the vertical build game here and the next century...

[thisisforreal]

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

...it doesn't feel as dense building wise like NYC or Chicago. The upside is that we have plenty of parking

Originally Posted by iheartphilly

lots to continue the vertical build game here and the next century...

[1487]

Originally Posted by jjv007

I wasn't referencing height particularly. Just mentioning that the skyline is quite thin going north-south. Doesn't mean it's not a good one. As a student at Temple, the skyline just looks very two-dimensional from the north, without much depth. Just an observation.

yeah that is largely due to how thin the business district is north to south. It's not like there is vacant land north of Arch or south of Walnut st. It's just that things quickly transition from the office core to residential or former industrial neighborhoods. For that reason you will never get the best view of the Philly skyline from the east for example.

A great vantage point (that I've rarely seen in pictures) is from West Chester pike just before you get near 69th street. You can see all of the UC and West Philly buildings in front of the Center City core towers visible from the west.

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by 1487

yeah that is largely due to how thin the business district is north to south. It's not like there is vacant land north of Arch or south of Walnut st. It's just that things quickly transition from the office core to residential or former industrial neighborhoods. For that reason you will never get the best view of the Philly skyline from the east for example.

A great vantage point (that I've rarely seen in pictures) is from West Chester pike just before you get near 69th street. You can see all of the UC and West Philly buildings in front of the Center City core towers visible from the west.

Good points 👍🏾

[JohnIII]

Originally Posted by jjv007

Good points 👍🏾

I have to agree; that is a really good vantage point because it shows University City. I also like the view from International Airport and the I-95 Bridge; it brings out the expanse nice.

[JohnIII]

Originally Posted by 1487

How about Houston? I would think they may have 3 over 900. Or Atlanta.

You know what; I stand corrected. When I thought of buildings being over 900' I automatically thought they would have to be 901'; never even considered a building could be 900' and still make the grade. That was a good correction; good looking out.

[PHL10]

I think because the skyline is so long along the east-west axis (2+ miles without even counting UCity), people are being too dismissive about it's north-south breadth. I wouldn't call this thin:


Credit: Photo by B. Krist for Visit Philadelphia™

[PhilliesPhan]

Originally Posted by jjv007

I wasn't referencing height particularly. Just mentioning that the skyline is quite thin going north-south. Doesn't mean it's not a good one. As a student at Temple, the skyline just looks very two-dimensional from the north, without much depth. Just an observation.

I'm a student at Temple (who has classes in Alter Hall, so I know exactly what you're talking about) and I feel the same way. The thing about the skyline is that the tallest buildings are situated along Arch and Market. Behind Arch, there aren't as many midrise and highrise buildings as there are south of Market. Also, the north side of the Comcast Center looks weird compared to the south side. The advantage that the North view has (and will have even more of) is all of the tall buildings that line North Broad.

Imo, the best place to view the full depth of the skyline is from I-95 near the Broad Street exit. With everything scheduled to happen in University City, this will change. The Girard Avenue Bridge may become the best spot due to how the future skyline will "wrap" around the Schuylkill due to the hilly nature of West Philly.

As of right now, the best place to view the north skyline is from US 1 as one passes SEPTA's Roberts Yard.

[volguus zildrohar]

The very best skyline view has to be from the S/SE. The full E-W breadth of the city is on display and the wedding cake zoning set-up of Center City is most evident. This is from the Walt Whitman but I like the view from the Girard Point Bridge best.



West Chester Pike is nice too.

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by PHL10

I think because the skyline is so long along the east-west axis (2+ miles without even counting UCity), people are being too dismissive about it's north-south breadth. I wouldn't call this thin:


Credit: Photo by B. Krist for Visit Philadelphia™

If you actually look at it, highrises literally only stretch a couple blocks going north-south, especially in certain spots. Nothing wrong with that though. Great pics btw guys.
Some of my favorite ways are from the Northwest such as Belmont Plateau and the Mann Center. Also the view from the New Jersey bridge leaving from NE Philly is very unique (not sure the bridge name). Fishtown as well is very nice from certain vantage points. It has a cool layered effect viewing from a short angle.

[El Duderino]

i was struggling to come up with a favorite and am almost happy that there are too many to choose just one. from a sheer magnitude standpoint, it's really hard to beat the view from the S/SE vz mentioned above.