Yes

It needs to be a different material, maybe all glass. And yes, the crown has got to go.

Yeah. I had the same question. Santa fe Depot's crown is kinda fruity too, but we kinda take it for granted.

here is my whole comment, it got cut off and the system wouldn't let me edit it:

Yeah it's not terrible, I would have expected something a little more edgy from I.M. Pei, but it looks a heck of a lot better than the stuff from the crack architects over at CW Kim (of the thanks to this blog recent Spinnaker fame)

The thing I do like - - no cluttering of balconies!!!!!! We need that

Why are we weird becasue we care how our city looks? Some of the comments are harsh indeed, but that's because I truly believe alot of these renderings are not worthy of our city. I want downtown to expand rapidly, but I want it to expand with quality architecture not tacky "fillers" and gaudy nautical-inspired theme park stuff. I like different and distinct buildings that are controversial, when they are edgy but not theme-like!!! That is my biggest complaint with alot of the new buildings, I like that they are trying to be different but it's like they are missing the mark by designing a drab tower then trying to throw some odd crown or sail-like feature on top of it. That's not innovation it's un-creative laziness.

I'm curious, what exactly do you like about the Spinnaker rendering since you seem bothered by the critisism? At least I'm descriptive in my critique that it looks like a water beetle with the wings ajar. What does it look like to you?
I'm open to everything, and open to seeing it in a different light. Don't just say you like it, tell us what there is to like about it, that's what the site is all about ;)

BTW, I bet everybody's liking the NBC buildings a little more now. After seeing some of this recent trash, they don't look quite so bad now do they?

(I personally happen to think their elegant post-modern design is quite nice)

First off, make sure you all see the link to larger version of the Pei tower because it shows more detail that actually makes the tower look much better.

I should have said earlier that I don't think it's an ugly building, rather it's quite handsome and looks pretty timeless. The materials being used are obviously high quality so it gets high marks for that. It's just that all and all, it's pretty bland, but it's a good bland. At least the color looks nice. I'm thinking because the exterior appears to have tiers like a wedding cake, they'll light up the skin of the it at night :fingerscrossed:

Lastly, you gotta figure that the developer needs to maximize the the floor space in order to make the tower profitable, hence we end up with a boxy design. As trvlr said, it's really the height limit that has forced this tower to look the way it does. :(

The thing is, we really don't have a building now that screams "Look at me!" We have some nice towers, but this was the one we were all hoping would change that.

I'm interested to see what hotels go in there, I want to see SD get a high-profile larger high-end condotel downtown like a Mandarin-Oriental, Four Seasons or Ritz

By the way, what ever happened to the Lane Field project? They had renderings out that were on the port of sd web-site and now they are all of a sudden removed. Was it cancelled or something??

I do think the IM Pei tower is actually really cool looking, the exception being the crown at the top. If you look at the rendering and cover up the crown it's actually a nice rendering. Hopefully they will proceed and modify the top. Santa Fe Depot is a historic building and it's crown is appropriate for it, I like the contrast of old spanish architecture along side sleek modern, I don't think SF Depot looks out of place, the IM Pei design seems to be minimal enough to accept the contrasting architecture nearby without making the block look cluttered-

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I think the crown on the Pei tower is the only thing that shows they were paying attention when drawing this up. I do accept the design, but find it a little disappointing. I guess I should blame the Irvine Company...it seems they had more influence in the asthetics than Pei Cobb. (Why the hell would you pay for Pei Cobb when you could have payed much less elsewhere)

That said, I think the Santa Fe station has looked out of place for years. At this point I will support anything that doesn't look like those dreaded Holiday Inns and covers up both the Santa Fe and those parking lots. I didn't necessarily want a boxy building, but it will save that part of DT from totally looking like Miami.

I don't think "boxy" is a bad thing right now - too many of our towers are too narrow and "miami" looking as you say. SF Depot is a historic building and an architectural glimpse at San Diego hisotry I'm not in favor of taking away history to build sleek new towers, I think old and new can live together

For what it's worth, I actually think the Spinnaker design is nothing short of beautiful. It's really done a great job of resembling that wonder of wonders, the Burj al-Arab, while conforming to that blasted height limit.

The other designs on the CW Kim website, however, are pretty bad.

Back to the Irvine tower, the problem I have with the design is that Irvine specifically said it was supposed to be a landmark building. At the moment, this building is anything but. Stately, classy? Yes. The crown jewel of downtown? Certainly not.

What the fuck is this shit?

IM Pei my ass....

I haven't seen them:(

Do you have any renderings?

I like the building, but I hate the fact that cargo trains are now going to have to go between two large buildings. Cargo trains shouldnt be going thru downtown at all.

I could not agree more. Minus that crown, I think it is a nice looking building.

Aside from breaking the #1 rule of building aesthetics, the crown doesn't match the look of the rest of the building. It is looks like an afterthought and is completely out of place with the rest of the building.

I'm not saying I like the crown, I'm saying that it is the only part of the building which is not completely bland.

I actually like boxy post modern buildings. I was a fan of the NBC designs. They reminded me of the AMEX building in NYC. Although I think more boxy buildings would help the skyline, I just didn't want the IM Pei opportunity to be used for something ordinary.

Which is part of my objection. It doesn't match the rest of the building. :)