PHILADELPHIA | One Liberty Place | 945 FT | 61 Floors | 1987
 

Hands down one of my favorite skyscrapers on earth. Despite it being chunky, I love it. It's top evokes the Chrysler Building but is something totally unique. Personally, I will always think of this building when I think of Philly. Moreso than cream cheese. Or cheesesteak. :D

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2308/...43651a95_b.jpg
Traveling Roths

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/38/79...b5d95776_b.jpg
C r u s a d e r

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3290/...4e56b6d6_b.jpg
adamsjp2010

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Rich Brome

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smiley river

The building is unquestionably and icon but I view the proportions as awkward at best.

An American icon.
1st building built taller than Liberty Hall thus stood out twice as tall as anything else. Looked insane, ofcoursem no fits in the skyline classically.

Although I don't understand all this proportions jumble...ya'll do elaborate now, ya'll hur me!

^ Elaborate indeed.

It's almost too fat for it's height.

It is a lovely tower, but it needs about 10 extra floors on the base portion. Still, it is one of Jahn's finest towers. Two Liberty Place on the otherhand, WTF happened there?

I think the reason One Liberty Place looks stubby is because of what's around it. It's an illusion. If the building was viewed by itself with nothing else around it would soar more. The buildings around it make it so you only see the top half which brings out the width. At some angles I have noticed something similar with the Empire State Building, although to less of an extent. Then there's a building like Worldwide Plaza which really is too wide for its height...

And unlike ESB it has the disadvantage that it's still not over 1,000 ft high.

Lib II is fatter because Cigna wanted more office space than what the original designs called for. Yep...Lib I wasn't big enough to hold Cigna. Sorta the same situation happens with Comcast and the Comcast Center.

definitly one of the greatest skyscrapers ever made a true icon

This is about as good as postmodern gets. Would have been perfect if it was a little taller. 9.5/10.

I have this small disliking for it, since it was based off a previous design meant to be for downtown Houston, Bank of the Southwest Tower, which would've soared 1404 ft, though I'm sure FAA would've done something to shorten it. More to blame is the economy bust Houston experienced.
http://www.emporis.com/application/?...ng=3&id=103046

Otherwise, a great tower, just wish they hadn't made a 2 Liberty Place, kinda diminishes the quality of 1 Liberty Place a little.

One of my favorite towers of all time. I don't think Two Liberty takes away from it at all, although I think a true twin tower would have been better, along with 10 additional floors for both. :D

A postmodern masterpiece, one of my all time favorites! :yes:

The illusion does take much away from the building's overall effect, before Comcast and other neighboring skyscrapers, it was an excellent centerpiece to the skyline.

http://wallpapers-free.co.uk/backgro...iladelphia.jpg
Wallpapers-free.co.uk
http://www.wallpapers-free.co.uk/bac...-philadelphia/

http://www.phillyskyline.com/misc/1989skyline.jpg
(Arthur Petrella) PhillySkyline.com
http://www.phillyskyline.com/onelibertyplace/

http://www.mcgillins.com/images/one_..._place_001.jpg
McGinns.com
http://www.mcgillins.com/anniversary.htm

http://www.corbisimages.com/images/4...a-07d09a0884a2
Corbis
http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-ph...-liberty-place

http://cdn.lightgalleries.net/4bd5ec...asher_09-2.jpg
Cdn.lightgalleries.net
http://barbarajohnstonphotojournalis...ndow_Washer_09

http://phillyskyline.com/onelibertyp...eliberty74.jpg
(Arthur Petrella) PhillySkyline.com
http://www.phillyskyline.com/onelibertyplace/

http://phillyskyline.com/onelibertyp...eliberty71.jpg
(Arthur Petrella) PhillySkyline.com
http://www.phillyskyline.com/onelibertyplace/

This is hands down, one of the best looking skyscraper's for the U.S, it's height is fairly impressive, but it's just a goregous building.

Locally it remains somewhat iconic. It's definitely a Jahn.

I'm in the minority for saying this, but this tower really irritates me. The form does not match the cladding, and the top is pretty ugly. It's not really unique either. If it were clad in brick or stone, it would have been much better.

You have a right to an opinion but your def in the minority here.
It's beautiful. Do you like the comcast tower?

Definitely a beautiful building. I used to love Philly's skyline when One Liberty was the tallest and made for a stunning "centerpiece". Comcast ruined it for me. Now the Philly skyline is bulky and has lost all the "finesse" that once made it beautiful. One Liberty's design demands for the building to be a skyline centerpiece unmatched in height, and Comcast had to shove in and make the skyline aesthetics extremely awkward. IMO of course.

I kinda like Comcast.

HA! Let it not be said that I dislike all modern buildings.

This is far and away one of my favorite modern buildings. It is a decent try at evoaking Art Deco in modern times. It has hints at the Step Back apperance that makes Art Deco so Iconic as well as detail and artistic additions that give it a soul that is lacking in so many, many modern BBB skyscrapers.

Really if there had been far more post modern buildings like this, I would be a far happier Curmudgeon

http://wallpapers-free.co.uk/backgro...iladelphia.jpg
1987

A great tower; the one that made the Philly skyline instantly recognizable.

Say hello to OLP in ... Ürümqi, Xinjiang (China). :haha:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3491/...388d5edd_b.jpg

A striking resemblance for sure.

There are a couple of clones around the world. There's one in a city in Turkey.

I feel the exact way you do. I'm not a fan of the Comcast Center. One Liberty Place is far superior to it and much more worthy of being Philly's tallest.

http://images.fineartamerica.com/ima...an-pearson.jpg
http://images.fineartamerica.com/ima...an-pearson.jpg

It is funny to see a great building copied and just changed enough to ruin it. Glad the copy is not in the US.

It looks a lot like Vancouver's Harbour Centre is there too.

As originally intended:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29...psb4ebb1d4.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29...psefcacd12.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29...psfc4d3b8c.jpg

Inside Murphy/Jahn's Chicago office, with Liberty Place models displayed:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y29...ps7d6ba8b4.jpg

It may look "nice" now, but compared to what I posted above, the whole scheme was *severely* downgraded towards finish.:rolleyes:

I like Liberty Place, but the tower is just a shorter version of the Bank of the Southwest tower that was planned but not built in Houston in the mid-80s. It's also very similar to a building in Chicago.

I don't see how the scheme was "severely" downgraded. The only difference that I can see between the models and what was built is the hotel tower. Other than that, both the model and finished product appear to be the same.

Yeah, I have no idea what he is talking about either. We actually got a taller 2nd building that was originally proposed. Although I know people don't like that one as much.

I love the cap and the spire on this building. Not a fan of the body.

Although I prefer Liberty 1, I think Liberty 2 is still a great looking tower (though admittedly a shadow of what was proposed for Houston) - and I think the "twins" work wonderfully together. In fact, I think it's much better that they're fraternal rather than identical.

If I could change just one thing, though, it would be to cut off the bump-out from Liberty 2 and spread out all that square footage as more height for both towers. Liberty 1 can look somewhat squatty sometimes from certain angles.

LARGE-SCALE OBSERVATION DECK TO OPEN AT ONE LIBERTY PLACE
Good news for fans of this building (well, ones who want to be in the building at least). A large observation deck is to open on the 57th floor sometime in summer 2015! A link to the full press release is below:

http://montparnasse56usa.com/upload/...20at%20OLP.pdf

Liberty Place *is* the copy. The Chrysler Building is the original.

Besides the narrowing tops to a spire, I think there is plenty to set them a part.

http://wirednewyork.com/images/skysc..._top_close.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/vanderveen.dani...00/Liberty.jpg

The Liberties looked better before they changed the lights on the angles to the ones that change color and appear duller at night. They used to be very striking at night, but now, especially considering how dull Comcast is with it's lights (I guess they're energy efficient or something?) it makes Philadelphia look half asleep in the evening, as opposed to other well-lit cities.

I think that Comcast actualy enhances the Liberties, because it's so... flat and (IMO) unattractive, your eye goes right to the Libs and you appreciate them more. I'm not sure if the same effect will be there when CITC is finished.

I kinda wish they'd design a "3 Liberty Place", and make it the city's tallest (for however long that lasts.) I get that it's impossible in real life, but very possible in my dream world.

I agree about the Liberties' dimness. You used to be able to see them miles away, shocking the night sky. Always was very exciting. Now? You can only make them out within city limits - and their overall effect is muted. Oh well.

I once said this building irritated me, but now I've studied postmodernism a bit more and I can see what they were trying to go for.

I guess they're okay. Not my favourite from the 80s, but they're alright

Pretty awesome building. Really put Philly back on the skyscraper map after so many years of relative inactivity.

That's really interesting, I always thought they were dim just due to old technology. So are these are newly installed lights turned down? With such an artistic outline they could do so much better with the night effects.

They replaced the old lights, which were considerably brighter and more expensive, with more customize-able and cheaper LED strips. Similar to the now haggard looking boathouse row which was dark for over a year to install the LEDs, though this solution is cheaper, it definitely does not have the same effect at night.

Yeah I was really wondering about the lighting too because when you look at the Philly skyline at a distance in the night it can look really impressive except sometimes you can barely make out the Liberty place towers, which are two of the best in Philadelphia. It's really disappointing and I was wondering why that is so. Anybody know if the City of Philadelphia or any other organization is going to do anything about the lighting system?

I highly doubt they will restore brightness to their former glory though it was a huge disappointment years ago. Just conjecture but this happened not to far before they turned the top floors of Liberty into Condos, so perhaps they dialed down the brightness to keep the residents happy? In any case, it was a huge Fuck You to the skyline.

I wish they would do this and build it in Boston.

Pics I've taken over the months/years:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2942/...b74b53b1_z.jpg042 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3888/...2187d6aa_z.jpg040 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5606/...7390b47d_z.jpg001 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3953/...cff0ef59_z.jpg002 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3910/...f84d7d79_z.jpg154 by tehshadowbat, on Flickr

Philadelphia’s Coming-Soon Spot For Sky-High Views Has A Name: One Liberty Observation Deck

http://www.uwishunu.com/2015/05/phil...content=Social

Has the observation deck opened?

Yes. It has been open for nearly one year. Despite "One Liberty Observation Deck" as the official name, I have also seen it referred to as Philly From the Top. Very well worth a visit.