DISCUSS: Best "Box" Skyscraper

[wjfox]

Discuss this month's topic in detail here. Feel free to post pictures.

For actual nominations to count, they must be posted in the nominate thread.

[Manila-X]

There are many but for Asia, I like Cheung Kong best

[SE9]

HSBC Tower is a very nice 'box':

image hosted on flickr


image hosted on flickr

[Marcanadian]

TD Tower, Toronto - By Ludwig Mies van der Rohe


image hosted on flickr


Taken by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ocad123/408265581/




image hosted on flickr

[Manila-X]

Does the Jardine House count?

[IMG]http://*************************/hong%20kong/jpgs/hong_kong_building_mcrae06_03.jpg[/IMG]

[hkskyline]

Jardine is technically not a box. Look at the top.

Wasn't TD modeled after Seagram? They were both designed by Mies.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Jardine is technically not a box. Look at the top.

Wasn't TD modeled after Seagram? They were both designed by Mies.

True cause I had a debate in another thread on whether The John Hancock in Chicago was considered a box scraper.

[hkskyline]

Despite the seemingly 'simple' architecture, Seagram was a very expensive building to build and to maintain :

Built in 1958 at a cost of $41 million, the Seagram Building is the only skyscraper in New York designed by Mies van der Rohe, the prince of International Style architecture, and Philip Johnson, who was then his acolyte. The architect was given an unlimited budget for the project at the urging of Phyllis Lambert, the daughter of Samuel Bronfman, Seagram's chairman.

The Seagram Building was the most expensive office tower of its day. And it is still an expensive gem. The bronze exterior of the building is oiled once a year by hand and the terrazzo floors in the elevator lobbies are polished once a month.

Excerpt from 'On Park Avenue, Another Trophy Changes Hands', 12 October 2000 New York Times

[Manila-X]

HK has other nice box scrapers



Other than Cheung Kong, you have the golden clad Far Eastern Financial Centre and The Bank of America Tower



Wan Chai's waterfront skyline has some several box scrapers including the Immigration and Renevue Towers, China Resources Building, Sun Hung Kai Centre and Great Eagle Centre.

[hkskyline]

^ Those boxes are not notable pieces of architecture. They're functional buildings, and their positions so close to each other have resulted in problems. A few years ago, a wind storm resulted in many windows on the government towers being blown right off the structures.

There are a number of really nice boxes in Hong Kong beyond what's in the core. See this thread for pictures : http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=476670

[hkskyline]

There are quite a lot of boxes in New York, but these few stand out from the repetition and scale.



Use of glass helps a bit, and the lack of uniformity in the curtains adds a bit of flavour to the building.



I don't particularly like these two boxes. One is crumbling and the other turned out to be a different colour than the rendering.



7 WTC, a sleek, modern box. Boxes can still be very interesting with lots of details. Perhaps there are a few around the world that have incorporated additional elements?



Come to think of it, 7 WTC doesn't look like a cube. The sides look a bit slanted, don't they?

[Crizzy]

John Hancock Center or isn't it a "box"?

[hkskyline]

It's not really cubic shape though.

[SkyLerm]

AON center in Chicago has to be

[Jo]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

It's not really cubic shape though.

A cube it's not. This is a cube
image hosted on flickr

[Skybean]

The Bank of America building in Hong Kong is hideous. I think the HSBC building in the Pudong District of Shanghai is one of the best.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by Skybean

The Bank of America building in Hong Kong is hideous. I think the HSBC building in the Pudong District of Shanghai is one of the best.

BoA though has an ok lighting effect @ night

[hkskyline]

Bank of America is a very old building, and quite obsolete in terms of facilities. There are plenty of better boxes in Hong Kong before this one should even be on the radar.

[wjfox]

Originally Posted by SKYCRIZZY

John Hancock Center or isn't it a "box"?

Hmm... not quite.

It's not a pure box shape, which is what this contest is about.

[Manila-X]

Originally Posted by hkskyline

Bank of America is a very old building, and quite obsolete in terms of facilities. There are plenty of better boxes in Hong Kong before this one should even be on the radar.

True there are alot of box scrapers in HK. But Cheung Kong best represents the box scraper in HK because of its architecture, height and is the office of Asia's richest man.