News broke last week that world-renowned architecture firm Foster + Partners has been commissioned for a potential new skyscraper on a narrow lot at 18th & Arch Streets -- a promising move that could implant a modern masterpiece into Philadelphia's skyline.
Knighted "the Mozart of modernism" by The New Yorker's architecture critic Paul Goldberger, famed architect Norman Foster's buildings famously intertwine classical elements of nature with the form and functionality of progressive high-rise design. With any luck, Foster might soon be on his way to Philadelphia, so Curbed brings you an international map of the firm's finest work to offer a sense of his style and potential vision for Center City.
The lot in question happens to be the site of the once-greenlighted American Commerce Center, which would have topped out at a grandiose 1,510 feet and brought Philadelphia to the forefront of the international high-rise scene. The ACC fell apart alongside the economic collapse in 2008, and the project's gravesite has been used as surface parking for the past several years.
While it's far too early to know exactly what will develop at this site, this is undoubtedly one of the most exciting architectural developments for Philadelphia in recent memory. Based on its portfolio, Foster + Partners is endowed with the power to transform a city's energy and optimism by deconstructing and reinventing the modern skyscraper with minimal input from the rulebooks.
Is Foster + Partners the right designer for Center City's skyline? Sound off in the comments section and tell us what you want to rise at 18th & Arch Streets.
[Please note that some mapped addresses are approximate.]
· A Foster for Philadelphia [HiddenCity]
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