PHILADELPHIA | Cira Centre | 434 FT | 133 M | 28 FLOORS | 2005
Cira Centre was Philadelphia's first office highrise since the Trophy Tower boom of the 80s/90s which gave the city One Liberty Place.
It has its fans and detractors but no one can see the building live and have no opinion (especially at night).
The effect it has on the Philadelphia skyline changes depending on the angle from which you see it. Sometimes squat, sometimes sleek, it added a new dimension to a growing urban signature.
It's an interesting sculptural piece of architecture. The dynamics of the facade are merely in planes vs. in depth. Still, the facade lacks the vibrancy expected of such a prism, and isn't quite what it should be (see Fountain Place in Dallas for an exceptional example, or even Hancock in Boston).
I didn't care for the night lighting scheme, but that's just me.
That being said, it adds an uncommon element to the Philly skyline, and the fact that it is still isolated gives it that much more prominence. A very good thing.
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Even if you are 1 in a million, there are still 8,000 people just like you...
The best view of this building for me is when I'm going westbound on the Vine Street Expressway....it looks very slender and sleek.
I wish they would have one of their amazing light shows more often. When they were 1st testing the lights one night I saw fantastic swirling cascades of light in many patterns and in every color in the rainbow. I know they can't do it often because it literally stopped traffic but i've never seen it repeated and it would be nice to see it again.
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Forget it Jake ................it's Market East