Media giant Comcast has announced plans to build a new
59-story, Norman Foster—designed skyscraper in center city Philadelphia. This is great news for Philly, urban
planners, and architectural fans.
The concept behind the new building is a “vertical urban
campus” with the kind of open creative spaces for techies that’s now associated
with suburban settings. The
(hopefully) LEED Platinum building – the tallest in the city – will also house
a hotel. It will sit next to the
existing Comcast building, near City Hall, and connected by underground
concourse to the Suburban Station regional rail hub. (Story here, video here.)
Transportation notes: Yes, connection to Suburban Station is
great, but the quality of some of those underground “concourses” could use some
significant upgrading! Also, the
connection to regional rail is very good, but the Philly subway system still
misses the mark. The city’s two
subway lines cross at City Hall, but there is no unified City Hall
station! Instead, there are more
pedestrian tunnels connecting separate stations on the two lines. And there is no Market-Frankford
station between 15th Street and 30th Street, omitting
service to one of the busiest areas of center city, including the new Comcast
tower, which will be sited between 18th and 19th streets.
But the real pressing question: what should the nickname be
for the new building? As the YiP
story points out, Foster was the architect of the “Gherkin” in London, so the
Philadelphia building should get a good nickname too. (Of course London also has the “Shard” and the
“Walkie-Talkie.”) Unfortunately
the name “Flashdrive” – which I like – is already taken by the original Comcast
building next door.
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