Ritz-Carlton About Face
Judging by the sleight of hand used to market the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, the old adage of "Location, Location, Location" may have to be replaced by "Photoshop, Photoshop, Photoshop." Note how the building, by New York's Handel Architects, has been shifted about 90 degrees to gain a better position on Philadelphia's skyline.In this ad, which was included as an insert in this weekend's Inquirer, the prow of the glass condo tower faces northwest, instead of east, so that it joins the party with all the other Center City skyscrapers. Could it be that idea of living across the street from City Hall doesn't have so much appeal after all? Hard to tell, but the appearance of a second construction trailer on the site suggests the project continues to progress.
Now if we only figure out how to get to that nice park in the foreground.
posted by Inga Saffron at 12:28 PM
24 Comments:
That park does exist, doesn't it? Isn't that the standard skyline photo that people usually take from Belmont Plateau in the west park?
Uh.. that "park" is already there.
It's winter. Trees don't have leaves in the winter.
http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qnrw4x8r2m15&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=1924766&sp=Point.qp3j388r3tzx_Broad%20Street%20Academy%20%28school%29%2c%20Philadelphia%2c%20Pennsylvania%2c%20United%20States___~Point.qnrwrg8r2kyb_1500%20Market%20St%2c%20Philadelphia%2c%20PA%2019102%2c%20United%20States___
It looks like Belmont Plateau, but it also looks like somebody did do some Photoshop work on it.
Maybe we need a "DESIGN" committee to oversee all advertising in the Inquirer to make sure it is truthful and accurate. Wonder how Mr. Tierney would react if he were faced with the same structures that Inga is so fomd of focusing on developers.
Similar to the absolute best view in town: the priceless Bartram's Garden.
http://www.bartramsgarden.org/see/meadow.html
While that view of the skyline was taken from the Belmont Plateau, the actual park image looks from elsewhere and photoshopped in. I actually think Inga was commenting not on the park's existance but rather on the relative difficultly getting to it from Center City. The City Branch light rail would have helped immensely to connect the average center city resident to Philadelphia's premiere park.
And she is right on with the faulty placement of RatR. For that image to be correct, the tower would have to be placed half in the City Hall courtyard and half in Dilworth plaza.
So Inga is back? I got a little tired of looking at the Red Finger... I mean sculpture they are planning to relocate to the parkway area... The Ritz Carlton Tower does not have the best local in town, but being across from city hall ain't that bad. And of course the design is light years better than Dranoff's Symphony House which has a better location, but no pizazz. Did I hear Red Finger anyone? Carl D. gave it to us!!!
You know, before I read the comments I thought the nice park in foreground that Inga was refering to was Dilworth Plaza. That certainly could use a rehab. Maybe water garden that would handle stormwater runoff from City Hall? Some cafes? Less steps?
I believe Inga was referring to the "park" across from the tower, outside City Hall.
I think Inga was referring to the proposed park in-between the Ritz and the RaR. And I think the building is rotated in the rendering simply to make the building appear more dynamic. In other words just to make a pretty picture.
Seriously, how immaterial of a complaint can Inga make... So what if they tweaked the building's orientation in a clearly photoshopped image? The purpose of the "advertisement" is for just that, marketing; and is for perspective and context, not to represent the actual architectural and engineering plans. Lastly, both Belmont Plateau and Dilworth Plaza exist, but maybe they are not quite as lush as they are depicted. Oh well.
That ad set Philadelphia back ten years. what were they thinking rotating the ritz for an advertisment! heads will roll for this.
thank you eigenwelt for reading inga correctly. Anonymous' 1 & 2 misread getting the park for getting TO the park. same goes for the anonymous two comments up--inga isn't doubting the existence of any park; she's saying (about belmont, presumably) that it's hard to find it.
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Inga is reading all of these ridiculous posts arguing over what she was saying and laughing. Is it a crime to point out that this ad was "tweaked" in Photoshop? I don't think so...she was just pointing out the fact that the building won't actually look similar to the ad once it is built and that the park looks much better in the ad than anything we have in real life...
Olga,You should write about Symphony House, by Philly's favorite developer hack firm BLT.
It is bad is every way, especially in scale to UArts.
"Now if we only figure out how to get to that nice park in the foreground"
I'm pretty sure she means Dilworth Plaza and if you live at the RATR it is not as easy as it looks to cross the street at that location. With not traffic it looks like a nice little stroll to the park, when in fact you're probably risking your life.
Duh yeah that's the classic Belmont Plateau view. City should copyright it. At first I thought it was a view from the LEED certified green roof of the condo. We'll know the condo craze is over when they go into the over the top sexual innuendo in the ads like NY. The Jaguar is illegally parked too.
What does this have to do with ARCHITECTURE?
And for your information thats Dillworth Plaza.
Some philadelphian you are!
What's everyone's beef with BLT? The DEVELOPER was the one who pushed for a 1920's revival building, not the architecture firm. Get your facts straight and stop blaming BLT for everything.
Again, How about the Red Finger that Carl Dranoff gave us at Symphony House.. How obscene!!
I know where the park is located, but who would want to go there? Until the city cleans it out and prohibits use of it as an outdoor toilet and sleeping area for the homeless, I don't think too many people are going to use that crosswalk shown in the lower right hand corner to go there.
Anonymous
BLT "The Architect" is to blame for lack of imagination or talent on so many major developer projects gone bad. Such an important location..... such an eyesore. The same purple pink panels and portholes they used at Penn's landing. Bad scale, no proportions, horrible material selection.
Architects are not just a rubber stamp for a developer. They have free will.
Developer's hire BLT for "pay to play" not talent.
"Hard to tell, but the appearance of a second construction trailer on the site suggests, the project continues to progress."
Does Inga ever pick up a phone...?
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