PHILADELPHIA | The Alexander | 370 FT | 32 FLOORS

[apetrella802]

"awful architecture"???

The Mormon temple and the 32 story apt building next door are not anywhere near awful. The temple is problematic I think because whenever you take a traditional form like a New England white clapboard church and blow up the proportions on a much larger scale it can seem cartoonish or naïve. But it will be sheaved in polished pure white granite and the form is based on a tradition of colonial churches over 300 years.

The apt building is not inspired but I think its handsome, rising as a slender tower with some setbacks and other elements that accent the vertical.