Skyline massing

Philadelphia 1987 and 2020 south elevation. Model and image by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Compares Massing Renderings of the 1987 and the 2020 Skyline

8:00 am on May 9, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Over the decades, the Philadelphia skyline has seen many transformations with different iconic images, such as when City Hall stood all alone in the early 1900s. One of the key years in the high-rise history of the city is 1987, when One Liberty Place dramatically surpassed City Hall in height and opened later in the same year. Another key year is 2018, when the skyline gained its first supertall tower with the completion of the Comcast Technology Center. Today Philly YIMBY compares the skyline’s appearance in 1987 to its state in 2020.

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the 1945 Skyline

8:00 am on May 7, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the 1940s, development in Philadelphia progressed at a slow pace as over the previous four years the United States of America was engaged in World War II after Japan’s surprise attack on Pear Harbor on December 7, 1941, further slowed down by the Great Depression, which lasted through the 1930s. However, in the preceding decades, many ornate buildings rose into the skyline with fantastic masonry designs. Most of the largest buildings were built around the City Hall in Center City, which created a hub of development when the Second Empire style building was completed in 1901.

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings Of The 1965 Skyline

8:00 am on April 30, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the 1960s, Philadelphia observed a rise in development with ample space available for new buildings in Center City. The William Penn statue at the pinnacle of City Hall still topped the Philadelphia skyline with a height of 548 feet, though it was surrounded by high-rises that stood nearly as tall. Today YIMBY presents massing renderings of the skyline as it appeared in 1965, when a new batch of modern and blocky towers were rising, with still more proposed.

East Market Phase 3. Credit: National Real Estate Development / Ennead Architects / Morris Adjmi / BLTa via CDR

In-Depth Look at East Market Phase 3, a Two-Tower Complex Underway at 1101-53 Chestnut Street in Market East, Center City

8:00 am on April 28, 2021 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

In the late 1980s, in rapid succession, a series of skyscrapers broke through the long-held “Gentlemen’s Agreement” that unofficially restricted Philadelphia’s buildings from rising above the 548-foot-tall pinnacle of City Hall, creating the now-iconic skyline of Center City. While the skyscraper cluster transformed the area to the west of City Hall, the Market East district to the east continues to lag behind in terms of an imposing skyline. However, East Market Phase 3, developed by National Real Estate Development as part of the East Market complex and currently under construction at 1101-53 Chestnut Street, will boost the local skyline with a pair of towers rising 364 and 288 feet tall. The buildings will bring one million square feet of medical office, residential, and retail space to the neighborhood, and add a sizable public plaza. Today we take a detailed look at the transformative project.

Philadelphia skyline 1975 south elevation. Image and models by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the 1975 Skyline

8:00 am on April 19, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the 1970s the Philadelphia skyline was on the rise, with bulky new office towers being constructed throughout Center City. At this time, the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” was untouched, as every structure stood below the height of the statue of William Penn at the top of City Hall. New high-rises were adding substantial amounts of office space and dominated the previous structures that stood out in the skyline, and featured various designs with stone, metal, and glass cladding. Philadelphia YIMBY presents massing renderings of the skyline as it stood in 1975, when Brutalist architecture dominated much of the financial district, including the area around City Hall.

Renderings 690 Schuylkill Avenue (top) and 3401 Civic Center Boulevard (bottom). Credit - top: CANNOdesign. Bottom: ZGF/Ballinger.

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of Two New CHOP Towers

8:00 am on April 18, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

A month ago, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia unveiled two new towers that are part of a $3.4 billion plan that will add considerable bulk to the University City skyline in West Philadelphia. On the University City side, the University-City-Tower at the presumed address 3401 Civic Center Boulevard will rise across the street from the CHOP Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care at 3500 Civic Center Boulevard. On the Southwest Center City side, 690 Schuylkill Avenue will stand to the northeast of the CHOP Robert’s Center for Advanced Research as the tower, right next to the iconic South Street Bridge.

Philadelphia skyline 1985 south elevation. Image and models by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massings of the 1985 Skyline

8:00 am on April 15, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

In the mid-1980s, the Philadelphia skyline rose as an even, roughly 500-foot plateau, particularly when viewed from the north and south. Though the skyline spanned a great expanse length-wise, it remained at a low profile, in great part thanks to the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” to not build above the 548-foot-tall pinnacle of the City Hall, which sat just beneath the 37-foot-tall statue of William Penn, the state’s founder. Philly YIMBY presents exclusive massing renderings of the city skyline just as it appeared in 1985, just before One Commerce Square and One Liberty Place both broke ground, starting their challenge to the skyline in the summer.

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the 1990 Skyline

8:00 am on April 5, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

By the start of the 1990s, Philadelphia had acquired a new image thanks to a number of then-recently built skyscrapers. Philly YIMBY presents exclusive massing renderings of the 1990 skyline as it stood just after the 1980s skyscraper boom in Center City, which has changed dramatically since its appearance just three years earlier (as presented in an earlier YIMBY feature).

Rendering of the tower via Tantillo Architecture.

YIMBY Presents Exclusive Concept Massings for 2300-24 Market Street in Center City West

8:00 am on April 3, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

Today Philadelphia YIMBY presents exclusive new massings for the recently revealed residential building at 2300-24 Market Street in Center City West. Designed by Tantillo Architecture and developed by Lubert-Adler, the project, which was revealed over a week ago, will add extra floors to a number of existing structures, further boosting the skyline in an area where a number of projects were revealed over the course of the past year. In total, the building will stand 202 feet tall, or 187 feet tall to the roof, and count 14 stories, including those in the existing buildings. According to the Civic Design Review filing, the structure wills pan 213,268 square feet and will house 222 residential units.

Liberty Place unfinished design with the Philadelphia skyline, south elevation. Models and image by Thomas Koloski

Imagining the Philadelphia Skyline with the 1985 Iteration of Liberty Place

8:00 am on March 28, 2021 By Thomas Koloski

On April 5, 1984, Willard G. Rouse of Rouse and Associates announced the proposal of Liberty Place, a complex in Center City that would rise hundreds of feet above the informal height limit set by the 548-foot Philadelphia City Hall. By the next year, Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn Architects finalized the design on One Liberty Place at 1650 Market Street as the design we see today, though Two Liberty Place, The Shops at Liberty Place, and the hotel all differed from their current versions. Today Philly YIMBY takes a closer look at this early iteration of the complex design.

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Skyline massing

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