While I'm normally a fan of rounded edges as in the above render, I'm gonna have to vote with the current one with the square end to the upper floors.
Here's why. I'm a firm believer that the buildings in a city's skyline should work together to enhance and compliment each other. They should not be garish and detract from the rest of the skyline.
That being said, look at Pac Place's dominant neighbors:
Up the hill (in the bottom of the pic, with the orange pylons on it... that's the current Park Place South's roof, btw):
Notice the heavily square and geometrical design of the Murano and the TFC.
Across the street:
Wells Fargo in all it's symmetrically boxy glory.
So, while something round would serve to be different, I'm liking the square upper floors in consideration of the neighbors.
Now, some of the potential ideas for the Haub site new Russell HQ have a seemingly 40+ story bldg with
apparent curve to it. I'm not sure how I'd feel about that until we actually had a design. After all, it would be come the new dominant member of the area...
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Now, if we want a building with some round action, I'd say build it near the current Russell HQ.
Not only is there the round top as visible in the classic view
But we also have the gently curved backside that is seldom noticed (or photographed, it seems)
A structure with rounded features would fit much more nicely in this area, I think.
Thoughts?