Skyline


Philadelphia skyline 1905 looking southwest. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Presents Massing Renderings of the 1905 Skyline

In the early 1900s, construction has just finished at Philadelphia City Hall (completed in 1901), with the clock tower dominating Center City. The skyline was not yet filled with massive towers. Instead, low- and mid-rise buildings made up the urban landscape. At the time, the city was growing rapidly, and a new generation of notable buildings was completed by the turn of the 20th century, including City Hall and the Masonic Temple. Today Philly YIMBY presents massing renderings of the Philadelphia skyline as it appeared all the way back in 1905.

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Philadelphia skyline from I-95. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Observing the Growing Philadelphia Skyline from the Interstate 95

Multiple highways around Center City offer great perspectives of the Philadelphia skyline. One of the best vantage points located along the Interstate 95, which presents a look at the skyline where the towers scatter in broad view from east to west, with underway developments in multiple neighborhoods easy to pinpoint. Of course, the Center City skyscrapers stand out prominently, and even smaller towers rising in Center City West can be seen from the view.

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Arthaus in the Philadelphia skyline from New Jersey. Photo by Thomas Koloski

Watching the Rising Philadelphia Skyline from New Jersey over the Past Few Years

Over the past five years, the Philadelphia skyline entered a new stage where the addition of new high-rise buildings with imposing heights and impressive floor space has greatly elevated the city’s skyscraper profile. The new developments range greatly in height, and includes the city’s first supertall skyscraper, the Comcast Technology Center. The growth that is happening now is nearly as impressive as the 1980s skyscraper boom in Center City, which brought a series of iconic structures with creative designs, such as Liberty Place, the Mellon Bank Center, the Bell Atlantic Tower, and others. Today, Philadelphia YIMBY tracks the rise of the skyline rising from a single location several miles away in New Jersey.

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Philadelphia 1945 and 2020 south elevation. Model and image by Thomas Koloski

Philadelphia YIMBY Compares Massing Renderings of the 1945 and the 2020 Skyline

In the mid-1940s, the Philadelphia skyline still maintained the general look it received during the construction boom of the 1920s and 1930, when several new towers added significant mass to the Center City skyline. The Philadelphia City Hall still topped the skyline at 548 feet tall, but by the 40s more high-rises were nearing the top of the clock tower, with several rising in the 300-foot range. A number of Art Deco buildings stood out, with predominantly light and dark brown shades. Today Philly YIMBY compares massing renderings of the 1945 skyline and the 2020 skyline.

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