A 1,070-foot tower that will become the largest skyscraper on the West Coast received its final approvals from the Planning Commission on Thursday. — sfexaminer.com
Clarke also showed the Planning Commission the actual metal and glass that will be used on the exterior of the building. He explained that the skin of the building has been augmented to add metalwork that will grow deeper and denser at the bottom of the tower. Clarke said adding the metal to the glass exterior will give the building a light texture that will glow in an ambient way.
The metalwork also was used to make the building safer for birds and to help control the flow of water down the structure.
Some people speaking about the project decried the tower as being too large and criticized its design.
NOTE: image has been update per Mark Hogan's tip in the comments
14 Comments
it's too generic - Building really belongs in China - I worked on 3 just like it for China -
The design has changed slightly, one of the new renderings is here: http://www.sfgate.com/default/photo/The-design-of-the-1-070-foot-tower-proposed-for-3496507.php
Thanks Mark, we've updated the image above.
Oh good, i was just having a discussion with some friends about the fact that there is room for more a anatomically correct tower. Glad to see Pelli and his son are on board with this line of thinking.
I actually made an acct. just to comment on how absolutely bland this project is... xenakis is right, this absolutely belongs in china, US doesn't have many towers going up, why let one this terrible make it? It's like the world is entering a new decade of blandness, we don't need the faceless 80s skyscrapers coming back, only now withe more glass.
I love the slit. LOL.
Oops.
Really - supposedly looks better at night?
Maybe it'll grow on us though...?
I was watching rhe design presentations from Richard Rogers, Pelli and SOM's Craig Hartman - SOM had the most cohesive design at the time - it also took into account California high speed rail and Caltrain - and the park was near street level not 5 floors up - What happened, is that Hinds the developer teamed up with Pelli bid up the real-estate price and won the contract - and now we are stuck -
http://www.som.com/content.cfm/transbay_animations
Wow. SOM proposal completely ruins pelli's PP.
SOM is all over the place right now... Love a lot of their work.
Clearly much more well thought out design.
Pelli's seems to have come up with a form he liked - then tried to ram it into the master plan... SOM did it the right way. Shame how it all comes down to numbers. It's all about who you team with.
That you for posting the link - nice to be able to see what it SHOULD be.
http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-product-design/tallest-greenest-building-in-chile-to-open-in-2011.html
here's the building he's doing in santiago... apparently pelli is a one trick pony these days too.... and on the same coasts...
Oh my goodness, that SOM building is one of the few skyscrapers I've actually liked in recent years. What a shame! The profile is elegant and they've actually put some thought into how it meets the street, too - check out that streetscape of the entrance to the transit hub. Much better than your typical developer highrise. Arching, soaring tree-shapes framing an entrance - not bad! What a shame that it was ditched in favor of this banal phallicism.
I completely agree about the SOM building. The arches are incredibly beautiful. This is the kind of design that would restore the landmark that downtown Manhattan lost in 9/11. I think San Francisco really lost an opportunity here.
Have you seen the calatrava design for WTC transit hub? Has some remote similarities. Some may disagree with me. Love them both. The scale, grand monumental form and control of light of the proposed WTC design arguably gives it the same kind of feel as people must have had at the turn of the 20th century - when they were about to, in many cases, experience this type of transit for their first time.
Reason I mention is there was something wonderful about how all the great transit hubs across the eastern seaboard connected with one another that way. Anyway, I'm straying from topic.. Love the SOM design. Love it.
Goodness... they are proposing nearly the same thing for an incredible, one-of-a-kind site at the very heart of Chicago:
Latest Wolf Point Renderings
(via lletdownl - thanks!)
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