SkyscraperCity Forum banner

Which city will have the best future skyline?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Future skylines 2

415K views 3K replies 245 participants last post by  RalphGuy 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Link for the old thread Best future skyline | SkyscraperCity

The old thread was getting very long and the poll needed refreshing.

Please post DECENT, accurate, up-to-date renderings of the different skylines as they're likely to appear in 2012 or later.

Thanks!

P.S. The poll is multiple choice this time - if you're having trouble deciding, you can vote for more than one.
 
#1,928 ·
My opinion is this;

I agree with everyone saying that Manchester's skyline backdrop is rather shite, and it WOULD look better with water instead, and a little more hunched up.

For instance, if you bunch all of Manchester's highrises, that includes Pendleton and Salford etc etc, together then plonk a waterside right infront of it all, you would have a WORLD CLASS SKYLINE, simply because Manchester has SO MANY tall buildings.

People WILL disagree, i'm sure, but that's my opinion and i'm keeping it.

... However I still think we need an exeptionally tall building to make Manchester look less like Croydon ;)
 
#1,929 ·
I'm sorry Voldemort but putting the council blocks infront of a big puddle aint gonna make them world class :| under water you'd stand a chance.

We should take all this as our cities are what they are.. Liverpool, the port city. Manchester and Birmingham, the engine rooms and so on.
 
#1,930 ·
ENGINE ROOMS ?!
I hope by that you're not referring to Manchester's dirty industrial past ??
Night Night x
 
#1,932 ·
^^

This guy's right - it's not the buildings (as such) that make the skyline look good - it can be a number of things, including backdrop, foreground (whether it's flat or hilly), and then where the city is built in the first place; (in a valley, on flat ground, or on a hill). For instance;

Liverpool has substantially less tall buildings than that of Manchester; and yet, I would vote this skyline over Manchester any day !! What makes Liverpool's skyline so good is that there is water in the foreground (making a nice, flat surface so you can see over it for miles), a flat backdrop, (so that non of the buildings are shadowed over by hills or mountains), AND the backdrop is sky as well - so the buildings stand out more. In Liverpool, it doesnt matter whether a certain building is 100m or 3m high, IT WILL BE SEEN ON THE SKYLINE !!

However, that in mind, i'm only talking about Liverpool's skyline from the waterfront. From behind, it's pretty poor to be honest.




Now let's look at Manchester's skyline. From this picture (yes I realize it was taken a while back) you can see that the city has much much more tall buildings than Liverpool. However, does the skyline look better ?? NO !!

That's because Manchester has a hilly foreground (so you can't actually get a good skyline shot in the first place) and a Hilly backdrop (making even Manchester's tallest buildings look overshadowed by gloomy hills in the background, which generally makes the skyline look weak).

If Manchester was built on a waterfront (like Liverpool) and had a flat backdrop (like Liverpool), JUST IMAGINE what the skyline would look like. It would be FANTASTIC !!

 
#1,933 ·
I agree, hypothetical arguments are stupid and pointless. However, this makes no sense:

If Manchester was built on a waterfront (like Liverpool) and had a flat backdrop (like Liverpool), JUST IMAGINE what the skyline would look like. It would be FANTASTIC !!
Why would it be fantastic? It'd still be worse than Liverpool. With the exception of Beetham, Manchester's tall buildings are of substantially lower quality than Liverpool's. Liverpool's buildings have also been designed to respond to the waterfront setting. Manchester's blocks plonked down on a waterfront would look careless and have a terrible composition.
 
#1,934 ·
I get what you mean with the architecture and design context point of view;

however, that's not what I was getting at. Just imagine all the buildings in Manchester are silhouetted and forget about architecture for a minute (I realise that's not what Manchester would look like if it was placed on a waterfront - however that's never gonna happen, is it ?? I'm just doing this as an example as to the fact that its not BUILDINGS that make a skyline look good, it's a number of things, which I discussed up there ^^)

If all the buildings in Manchester were lined up along a waterfront, forgetting about architecture, it would look like a proper world class city. EVERY building lined up along the waterfront would be seen and would stand out, even the Pendleton tower blocks would probably have some prominance.
 
#1,937 ·
Darling, we're not jealous of your' skyline, we're simply stating why Birmingham and Liverpool's skyline is much better than that of Manchester's.
 
#1,939 ·
Croydon has a sexy skyline ;)
 
#1,940 ·
Put this thread on the list of:

Manchester has no offices (UK largest outside London)
Manchester's legal community is smaller than Brum/Leeds.
Manchester has no density (more buildings constructed over 50m since 2000 than the next two, non London, cities combined...starting from a high level anyway.
Manchester airport is shite, larger than the the next two non-London airports combined
Manchester United has no football fans in town! 67,000 sell out during fuel strike, mid-week match.
Manchester has no waterfront, erm Salford Quays.
Manchester is only 400,000 in population and so is the UK's 500th largest city, just behind Woking.
Manchester is not as famous as Liverpool
Manchester has no musical history

etc
etc

the only jealousy seems to be from non Manchester folk. Even when someone says Liverpool has a better skyline...a Leeds's forumer has a go again!

Christ!
It's like, "hello" closed minds!
 
#1,948 ·
Voldemortblack, I can't fault your enthusiasm and your willingness to debate and to engage, but sooner or later you will realize that the foundation, in fact the whole existence of SSC, is currently built on the hatred of Manchester, regardless of the topic or subject matter.(perhaps that was a bit OTT :lol:)

Over the last 5 years I've noticed this has increased on a regular basis. Whether the subject is the skyline, it's people, crime, economics, architecture or any subject related to the city.

I could name names but they know who they are, so I won't bother. Wrongly or rightly I see it as a compliment. People only attack when they feel threatened. Manchester is an easy target.

Over the last decade Manchester has been the most successful city at reinventing itself, regenerating itself and has attracted more investment than any other UK city apart from London. This upsets people. It wounds their civic pride. The only way they can deal with it is by constantly attacking Manchester and what it has achieved in the last decade.(or more)

Me, I just smile and sometimes laugh from the safety of my livingroom when reading these constant attacks on Manchester. Because deep down they know what I know and that's all that matters. :)
 
#1,954 ·
I like Liverpool's skyline the most, but at the end of the day.

If on a Skycraper site you say that Manchester with a building 30m higher than Liverpool (2),50m higher than Brum (122m ARF! ;) ) is crap then I would say let's choose a city 30m lower than Liverpool or 50m lower than Brum.

So, Bristol, Belfast, Glasgow, Portsmouth (excluding tower) are the best skylines...etc

It's a skyscraper site, so for sheer monumental *uck off scale and overpowering loomingness then Manchester craps all over everywhere bar London.


If some wise ass starts mentioning bloomin towers again then it is still Manchester, Portsmouth and Blackpool laughing.
 
#1,956 ·
In fact, everyone repeat after me...since we are comparing our little (UK) phallic symbols then your judgement, on a skyscraper site should be:

1. Height
2. How tall is it above the ground
3. How many floors does it have
4. How high are the floors
5. How high is it again
6. How high does it reach
7. Can you parachute off it
8. Can you parachute off, with the chute opening in time
9. Can you see it from miles away
10. How high is it

geddit

www.skyscrapercity.com says Manchester
www.ilovethearchitecturalbeautyofmytownsmidrises.co.uk
 
#1,967 ·
In fact, everyone repeat after me...since we are comparing our little (UK) phallic symbols then your judgement, on a skyscraper site should be:

1. Height
2. How tall is it above the ground
3. How many floors does it have
4. How high are the floors
5. How high is it again
6. How high does it reach
7. Can you parachute off it
8. Can you parachute off, with the chute opening in time
9. Can you see it from miles away
10. How high is it
1. Quality of architecture.
2. Quality of materials and construction.
3. Relationship to surroundings.
4. The rest...


I don't think this is a 'skyscraper' site, it is a lot more than that. It's an urban planning, architecture, development and photography forum. If it were just about heights of buildings, there really wouldn't be any basis for discussion or debate and it would be a very, very dull, one dimensional place.
 
#1,961 · (Edited)
I would go so far as to say that both Manchester and Liverpool are about as famous as each other. Yes Liverpool HAS been more famous in the past, however I don't think it's long before Manchester takes that place.
Why don't you think it's long before it takes it's place? Manchester has United and Liverpool has Liverpool who have contested twice as many European Finals and are equally as massive around the World,ask people from elsewhere if you have any doubts (not Americans).Then we have the Grand National,the World's biggest Steeplechase,that gets around 650 million viewers Worldwide every year (your similar event is?).The British Open which is one of the top three tournaments in the World is seen by hundreds of millions around the world and both Royal Birkdale and Royal Liverpool each get to host it every eight years ,they're both seen as Liverpool events.The MTV awards is seen by millions and we hosted that last year.The Artichoke Spider event was front page of the South China news (this has the biggest distribution of any paper on the Planet) (again what headlines are you making around the World outside of football,by the way we make them too) .We've just been European Capital of Culture.Creamfields are held all over the World and again it started in and has big links with Liverpool.Cavern Clubs are replecated around the World (Australia,Brazil etc),there's a Strawberry Fields in Central Park,a Beatles show and bar in Vegas,a John Lennon Park in Havana Cuba,a Beatles Quarter in Hamburg,a Beatles Museum in Japan etc.We're strongly referenced in American history because our port had 9 million people emigrated through it for the New World,that'll never change throughout history.We have strong links with the American Civil War and that's why the city is an American Civil War Heritage Site,that's acknowledged by the White House by the way.We're at the Shanhai expo this year,we have a pavilion there,that's expected to attract 70 million people.We have University's in China bearing our name.I simply could go on but I wont yet,so my question is why will Manchester as a given simply take our place,that's seriously delusional but I'd like to hear your response as to why or will this be convienientally dodged again until the next time this myth is trotted out?
 
#1,976 ·
Could we please get back to the point of future skylines ??

PERSONALLY, I think we need to get an ordinary member of the public to decide 'who has the best skyline', because, lets face it, we're all skyscraper nerds so we're gonna get picky about it, aren't we ??

But if we get someone with NO experience on the matter, and just ask them 'which skyline do you think is most stunning?' they'll answer their' answer, and then we can all button it :) x
 
#1,979 ·
That second picture looks like a foreign city :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top