July 1

What city is this? :haha:

From about Orleans and Chicago and various points south thereof.

Nice angle of 7 new buildings.

https://i.imgur.com/SQv9vuN.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WqDCDui.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MMYLnrz.jpg

Yup, I estimate it should be about four of WPE 3-floor 'blocks' taller to get a rough idea.

I love that if you were to go back in time and show your artful crop to someone in 2015, they'd have to really try to identify what city it is. Amazing changes.

Thankfully we have The Google for that.

2009
https://i.imgur.com/eTDS5S4.jpg

Today
https://i.imgur.com/kEBTGiv.jpg

^ It's a lot of blue glass...

^for Real...seems like once this city gets itself in a trend its hard to break for a decade or so... ala river north beige

Some of them were designed at roughly the same time, and probably had no idea that their future neighbors would also be blue-glass buildings.

All things considered I prefer it to how monolithic Hudson Yards is. But hopefully the confluence is on developers' minds going forward - if we start to see cladding with more unique shades and details it could be a net benefit. I can understand why the priority was flashy cantilevers and lobbies over color given that they're on the river with a lot of sight lines.

It's one thing to all show up wearing the same dress, but the same boxy pantsuit? You don't need to be psychic to aim for a bit of creativity. It seems few buildings this cycle could be bothered.

Also goettsch is the architect of literally three of them, BMO, bofa, 150 riverside. So no excuses there.

Bank of America must have been thrilled that BMO got a 10% nicer version of their brand new tower.

Yes I agree on the Hudson yards observation. Anyone who doesn't like monolithic blue glass is going to have to bring some blinders when they visit New York.

Also the angle that I took the picture is unusual and focuses in on them all in one shot. Most vantages in the city you don't quite see them all clumped together like that.

Complaining about all this Blue Glass in one spot will be like complaining about too much White Terra Cotta at the Michigan Avenue bridge in 1930 because of Wrigley, Jewelers, Mather, etc...

I kinda love this new layer of the skyline, sorta has an "emerald city" vibe going on. Maybe call it Sapphire City...

Regardless there certainly is a 700-800' shelf of glass and stainless steel office buildings running along the South Branch at this point.

Agreed

I've never liked this section of the Riverwalk but the vegetation has grown a lot and is kinda jungle like and I like it a bit more.

Does anyone know if there are ever plans to use the stalls in this section? They've always been vacant I believe.

https://i.imgur.com/3ulqf8n.jpg

This is the "Fish Hatchery" section. Set aside to provide food and shelter for fish eggs under the vegetation on the right. The beds on the left are butterfly friendly plants. Joe Pye weed is the tall gray/purple flower, False sunflower is the yellow cluster in the back, lots of Aster which has yet to bloom and Cup plant is just peeking up and will get quite big with yellow blooms. All are butterfly, bee and other pollinator favorites.

Yes. And 99% of normal people (i.e. everyone not on this forum) think this stretch of the river is beautiful

Good point, and you will be able to tell what era it was built in also. We had tan buildings for a few years and blue glass is nice for now. Soon they will start doing more of other colors.

Thank you for this detailed explanation! Now that I understand why it's like this I think I will appreciate it more.