> Date: Wed, 08 May 2002 16:49:47 -0400 > From: Gerardo Razumney <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > I disagree. I don't think building a well designed, aesthetically > pleasing skyscraper next to a classical building is necessarily bad. > Great cities are full of these combinations of grand old and grand new > buildings. Each enhances the other. It is a mark of great architecture > the ability to coexist with other styles. > > Gerardo Razumney > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > > Here's something worth preserving not only because of the historical > > significance of the 30th Street Station but because of its high visual > > impact. > > > > http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/3220243.htm > > > > A skyscraper over the tracks beside our magnificent railroad station! That > > building which is not only astonishingly handsome in its own right, but a > > symbol of American commerce and manifest destiny! The very idea is > > heartbreaking. > > > > Preservationsists unite! What's the sense of trying to preserve Spruce Hill > > if our lovely pre-Victorian/Victorian/post-Victorian environment is just > > going to be in the shadow of some out-of-scale monstrosity a few blocks to > > the east? A March on City Hall is surely in order. Stop by the Spruce Hill > > Neighborhood Alliance table at the May Fair in Clark Park this Saturday and > > sign up for your picketing signs and other protest paraphenalia. > > > > Al Krigman,
It would be nice if the architect had ever spent any time on the site or the Developer gave a damm about the area... This "site plan" suffers from classic "Suburban Developer Syndrom" -- dramatically increase the density of an area and ignore the impact on the surrounding community. Build it and the City will magically fix all of the traffic problems and similar things that we create. In this case -- all of the cute "site plans" show pedestrians wandering all over the place. Anybody who is familiar with that area knows -- it 'aina gonna happin.' The vehicular traffic in that area is insane... on a good day. So they are going to add a couple hundred more cars per rush-hour to the mess. It's nice that they include a pedestrian bridge to 30th Street Station. However, one wonders how and if Amtrack is going to appreciate becoming the front doormat for this building. I suspect that the building itself will be gorgeous and the internals quite nice. However, With its primary face and access east toward center city, it is going to be a real rats-nest. Is it going to be a boon or a bane to the Neighborhood? City Hall assumes that it is part of Center City's expansion. -- T.T.F.N. William H. Magill Senior Systems Administrator Information Services and Computing (ISC) Networking & Telecommunications University of Pennsylvania [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.isc-net.upenn.edu/~magill/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
