PHILADELPHIA | Comcast Technology Center | 1,121 FT | 60 FLOORS

[TechTalkGuy]

Nah!

I'd rather see an Apple logo up there!

[tower]

It's finally happening slowly but surely. Philadelphia is rising from the ashes and infiltrating NYC and taking it over.


Soon New York will be considered a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Soon.

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by tower

It's finally happening slowly but surely. Philadelphia is rising from the ashes and infiltrating NYC and taking it over.


Soon New York will be considered a neighborhood in Philadelphia. Soon.

I know you're being cheeky, but there's a little truth in this. Philadelphia's never going to have 8M residents and New York will probably always be America's premier city, but Philadelphia is really positioned to give New York - and other cities - a run for their money.

Companies don't need to be in New York anymore. Comcast can afford Manhattan, but it's building the communicative infrastructure that keeps them at 30 Rock for nothing more than posterity.

Many startups, new artists, designers, and actors can't even afford Brooklyn anymore, and they're finding Philadelphia more desirable and affordable than the outer boroughs of New York.

Philadelphia has affordable talent, affordable apartments, and thanks to losing the population of Atlanta in the mid-1900s, we have an endless supply of underutilized real estate.

New York has made itself an island for tourists and the rich. The Trumps of Manhattan might not want to admit it, but good business thrives on the fresh ideas of economic diversity. New York is pushing all of that to the next best thing.

[Derchin]

Finally, we get a building that's over a 1000 feet tall.

[MikeNigh]

What I see happening is the more philly improves the more it will take from NYC until there is a plateauing of philly becoming about 2/3rds the size of NYC and the two cities basically being a co-economy. Philly is just starting the hockey stick

[TechTalkGuy]

I like Philly's little skyline, but having Comcast plaster their corporate name on a NY landmark is insulting!

You don't see Metlife plastering their name on any of Philly's skyscrapers!

[TheOldMan]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

I like Philly's little skyline, but having Comcast plaster their corporate name on a NY landmark is insulting!

You don't see Metlife plastering their name on any of Philly's skyscrapers!

I think it's hilarious!

Besides, a corporation headquartered in New York (or anywhere else) would not hesitate to put a logo on a Philly skyscraper that it occupies and/ or owns if that's what it wanted to do.

[TechTalkGuy]

Originally Posted by TheOldMan

I think it's hilarious!

Okay then, how about a huge NY Times neon logo atop of Comcast Center?

Better yet, let's plaster it atop of the new upcoming Comcast Innovation & Technology Center!

[TheOldMan]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

Okay then, how about a huge NY Times neon logo atop of Comcast Center?

Better yet, let's plaster it atop of the new upcoming Comcast Innovation & Technology Center!

That would make sense if the New York Times owned and/or occupied the building. Comcast owns NBC, thus it would make sense for Comcast to want to put a logo on 30 rock since NBC occupies the building.

[philatonian]

There's a Reuters sign at 16th and Spring Garden. New York's presence is everywhere. I think it's great that Philadelphia finally has a presence in the Big Apple. We're coming for them.

Philadelphia has great talent, affordable real estate, and is manageable, and all of that has been echoed by the New York refugees flooding into the city. We have the diversity that built New York's established industries, and New York priced that out to Queens. That's long train ride to think about more affordable cities with a better quality of life than in the outer boroughs.

New York has no where to go but down, and Philadelphia is rising. In twenty years we might not be Manhattan's scrappy little brother. We're primed to become corporate equals if City Hall can recognize our potential and get its act together.

[Cro Burnham]

Originally Posted by philatonian

In twenty years we might not be Manhattan's scrappy little brother. We're primed to become corporate equals if City Hall can recognize our potential and get its act together.

I love your optimism, but you know this has about .0000005% chance or less of happening.

But I think it's perfectly fine for Comcast to be on Rockefeller Center.

New York has many outsider corporate logos on its buildings already. AXA comes to mind immediately, but I'm sure there are many others.

Hard to understand why a New Yorker would even be bothered by this. You'd think it would be like a flea on an elephant's back.

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by Cro Burnham

I love your optimism, but you know this has about .0000005% chance or less of happening.

But I think it's perfectly fine for Comcast to be on Rockefeller Center.

New York has many outsider corporate logos on its buildings already. AXA comes to mind immediately, but I'm sure there are many others.

Hard to understand why a New Yorker would even be bothered by this. You'd think it would be like a flea on an elephant's back.

Corporate equals might be a stretch, but I think we're more primed to take a lot more of New York's business than most think. That probably won't make a dent in New York's economy but that's only because New York makes it so expensive to do business there.

Globalization and communicative technologies are quickly making a business's location irrelevant. Companies are headquartered in places like New York solely for posterity.

Philadelphia offers companies a similar talent pool for a fraction of the price, and companies and talent are starting to recognize that.

New York makes it very hard to live if you don't make a lot of money and you have to fight to find a modest job. Companies need young talent willing to work for less, and New York is quickly losing its ability to house them. If you're a creative type, it's even harder, and they find a lot more artistic inspiration in Northern Liberties than Queens.

The best of the best is getting frustrated with New York. By the time you wind up in a studio on Staten Island, you might start thinking about other cities, and Philadelphia is right next door and provides a very similar lifestyle.

Sorry, my glasses are rosy today. It's the beautiful weather. But seriously, I think New York is about to plateau, if it hasn't already.

[TechTalkGuy]

This is not a city-vs-city debate, so let's get back on topic here.

I find this tower to be very interesting. The roof height is lower than it's bigger brother, so it reaches for the sky in a similar fashion to the Statue of Liberty where she proudly holds her torch.

Same concept, but I would like to see a better lighting design for the spire.

[apetrella802]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

At least these two "Comcast" towers won't get confused as "twins".

Don't get to cocky:



Upon completion, One World Trade Center in New York City surpassed Willis Tower through its structural and pinnacle heights, but not by roof, observation deck elevation or highest occupied floor.

[TechTalkGuy]

Comcast expanding its footprint in Philadelphia
• Video Link

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

This is not a city-vs-city debate, so let's get back on topic here.

I find this tower to be very interesting. The roof height is lower than it's bigger brother, so it reaches for the sky in a similar fashion to the Statue of Liberty where she proudly holds her torch.

Same concept, but I would like to see a better lighting design for the spire.

Interesting take on the comparison to the SoL. Never thought of it like that. Comcast could have done better illuminating its cap on the existing building. It never coordinates with the colors on the other skyscrapers.

I'm curious to see how CITC's spire will look in real life. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about the spire I don't like. For the building's width, the spire doesn't seem tall enough or something. It feels like an afterthought. The spire on Liberty Place seems natural.

I don't know if this was ever a real proposal, but I preferred the design. It seems cleaner.

[TechTalkGuy]

That's a much better approach, but still resembles a skeleton structure.

It reminds me of a multitool that takes the form of many shapes.

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

That's a much better approach, but still resembles a skeleton structure.

It reminds me of a multitool that takes the form of many shapes.

I was thinking Rubix's Cube, or its less popular successor, the Rubix's Magic

[apetrella802]

Originally Posted by philatonian

I was thinking Rubix's Cube, or its less popular successor, the Rubix's Magic

Some people must have missed the point of Sir Norman Foster's design:

If you first understand that this is not a corporate office center but a vertical technology innovation hub(something never done before) then the exposed structural framing with the truss like diagonal support elements recalls the light filled factory buildings of the turn of the last century. Think vertical cyber factory. Sir Norman is very excited about it and so am I.

[philatonian]

Originally Posted by apetrella802

Some people must have missed the point of Sir Norman Foster's design:

If you first understand that this is not a corporate office center but a vertical technology innovation hub(something never done before) then the exposed structural framing with the truss like diagonal support elements recalls the light filled factory buildings of the turn of the last century. Think vertical cyber factory. Sir Norman is very excited about it and so am I.

I was actually referring to the unofficial rendering that someone else prepared, the one without the spire (I posted a pic down thread). That's what I thought looked like a Rubix's Cube, not the general body of the tower itself.

I understand the philosophy behind the tower itself and I really like it. But the spire doesn't really jive with that message. In fact, unless it's meant to represent a fiber optic cable, it actually seems counter to the message. The factories that inspired the exposed framework were pragmatic, and only loosely decorative. The spire kind of takes away from that idea.

That said, I'm sure I'm as excited as you.