Tall and Narrow in Philadelphia

Philadelphia seems to have a lot of tall and narrow apartment buildings. This seems to be a function of the small blocks and narrow lots of the old center city (and of course, land prices/values as well). I really don't know much about these, but they are fun.

They are mostly found on corner sites. I don't know if you can see the gargoyle's on the bay window. I notice them more in other shots, since they blend in so well in this shot.

An art deco tower.

Somewhat spooky looking against a Helmut Jahn backdrop.

This last one isn't quite so tall, but it's proportion plan-wise isn't far off.

Rittenhouse Dorchester

So now we go back to Philadelphia for a modern tower on posh Rittenhouse Square - the Rittenhouse Dorchester from 1963, designed by Chicago favorite (oh, ok, well, just plain Chicago architect) Milton Schwartz, who I'm sure everybody knows from the Constellation and 320 Oakdale (don't know them, I guess I should do more posts). Above we have the ground plan - it sits on a very tight L-shaped lot which wraps around the building just to the north of it, occupying the remainder of the small block.

Above is the typical floor plan, with typically sized units for the era.



A rare "rear" view at sunset from the Northwest showing it wrapping around the older high-rise to the north.


East elevation as seen from the leafy confines of Rittenhouse Square - note the angled bays to enhance views east to the square. It really does have very parklike surroundings.


South elevation looking up. Note the profile of the balconies - the railings are quite nicely detailed, however, the replacement windows are rather clunky.

There is also another development in Center City Philadelphia by Scwartz, however, I'll save that one for posting in another entry.

Plans are from:
"Apartment, Their Design and Development"
Samuel Paul
Reinhold Publishing Corporation
1967

Note: Samuel Paul is worth an entry in himself.

Philadelphia Modern

Well, more contemporary than modern....

Here we have two buildings along the Delaware riverfront, such as it is. I don't really know anything about them, except that they are rather nicely sized to my eye. And both are rather near Society Hill and the famous Pei Ieoh Ming Society Hill Towers (more on those later). I'll also add more on vintage buildings in a future post. I will note that these follow a trend in Philadelphia which is very narrow and tall (mainly because of small lot footprints) residential towers.

Tudor City

Tudor City in the Rain

Well, once again I realize that I have been truly neglectful of this little project, my blog. In fact, I haven't updated since the very end of May, and I have all of June and July to get written and posted. Since I went to the multi-family capital of America this weekend for a visit and took my trusty little camera with me, you, my dear readers, can have some visual treats.

Tudor City

First off we have Tudor City, once owned by Husband to the Diva, Harry Helmsley, who got into quite a bit of trouble trying to redevelop it before selling. I'll update with further information, but briefly, it was built in the 1920s, on the eastern edge of Midtown Manhattan. It is literally directly across the street from the UN (as in United Nations) however, when it was designed, there was no Congress of Nations or other body on that site (well, bodies, not the governmental kind, or even human, but the edible kind) just docks and stockyards, hence the inward facing design.

It was quite a lovely space, with a large garden with tall, mature tree's making the Neo-Gothic (Tudorbethan or Jacobethan) towers all the more surreal when seen through the leafy canopy. At ground level the arboreal splender appears to be a modestly scaled, nicely detailed space, however the penthouse levels above do make a dramatic impression when viewed from below in typical Manhattan fashion (nearly all of my photos were in portrait mode from the verticality of it all - at least Lower Manhattan and Midtown.

Another shot looking upwards. The tops of the buildings are really magnificent against the cloudy sky with rain pouring down. A view of the central courtyard, more of a garden than a park. The undeveloped area was a big bone of contention when H. Helmsley owned Tudor City.

A parting glance. The last shot shows one of the more modest building tops.

Booth Hansen

Yes, dear readers, that is in fact, oh how I dread to say the name, SoNo*, product of Booth Hansen, one of Chicago's leading architectural firms, what we in the trade would call a design firm. This is, I think, one of their best, and one of the best new residential towers. In fact, so much more so than I had expected. The dark glass and black metal cladding make a dramatic, almost Miesian statement. For contrast to the under construction building, here are some shots of their recently completed building in the Gold Coast with it's sleek, glassy sweep of a south facade.

I also hope this entry doesn't shock my usual readers, but I am, in fact, a fairly staunch modernist, and this building appeals to me. It's a shame that their other new, in planning, building, won't look as good - I am, of course, referring to 5440 Sheridan Rd, which has been cut in height.

Unfortunately I don't have a good shot of the front - south - facade, but the edge condition, if you will, much like SoNo is quite spectacular, almost dissolving with the balconies. These are also, as you can plainly see, construction shots.



*I do have to say that this name is totally, utterly and completely ridiculous. I mean, I live in SoHo by that token - South of Howard that is, like most Chicagoans. The list of these silly names goes on for ever; luckily I cannot remember any others at the moment and will spare you the torture...