Quote:
Originally Posted by mmikeyphilly
I agree with theWatusi. I thought at first it was blocking someone's view, perhaps "shadows", but I don't see anything that would want the hospital to hide this rendering under a table. I actually think it will pump more life into the area, and make it feel more safe at night for a walker. I drive, and I'm not an expert or a walker, so maybe I'm not seeing it.
|
So I can see why a blankish wall facing the street at the base of any tower is not optimal urban design; it not only disengages the building with the street, taking it out of the urban fabric by actually walling it off from it, creating a mental and physical separation from the neighborhood.
The reason this is suboptimal from a pedestrian perspective, in my mind, is that it has to potential to make the street feel ugly during the day (purely an aesthetic thing, I guess, but I super hate huge blank walls at street level) and unsafe at night. I know I find it sorta creepy at night to be walking in an area with not that many people on the street, up against huge walls someone could be hiding behind. I'm not being overly paranoid, I'm just trying to convey why certain decisions builders make can hurt street life and make an area feel slightly unsafe in my mind. With a door at street level, say, you'd have more eyes on the street because people would be coming and going, and there might be a brightly lit lobby with guards or front desk staff there 24/7.
That said, in this case, I actually feel like I'm missing something. How is that view the first proposed stage of their campus? That view makes it look like you're looking west, with the rest of CHOP in the background, but if you were looking from the river to this building, wouldn't it be on the right? And looking at the first page of this thread, the first phase tower isn't supposed to abut South Street. So, I'm kinda confused here. Maybe this is actually a rendering of the Phase 2 building?