San Francisco's Transamerica Pyramid, designed by architect William Pereira, is no longer the tallest building in the city. The city's architecture critic expects it will still be the most iconic building in the city.
"These should be humbling times for the Transamerica Pyramid," writes John King of the iconic San Francisco skyscraper. "This week it ceases to be our city’s tallest building. Top honors instead will go to the still-ascending Salesforce Tower."
Yet to King, despite the fact that it will no longer be the city's tallest building, he expects it will still be the city's most recognizable for a long time to come.
It’s the symbol of the global metropolis that emerged here after World War II, a corporate attention-getter that lives up to branded hype. The visual shorthand for filmmakers and postcard peddlers who want to make their (literal) point. The embodiment of San Francisco’s tension between old and new, cutting-edge and quaint, flamboyant and matter-of-fact.
King reminds us that the Transamerica Pyramid is already only the 40th tallest building in the United States, yet few building say "you are here" like it. Of relevance to the current political environment surrounding development, King also notes that the building inspired strong opposition when it was announced in 1969. There was even a proposal to put a 6-story cap on building heights on the ballot in 1971.
Read the full story: An ode to the Transamerica Pyramid as a new tallest tower rises
West Coast Cities Redefining Height With Batch of New Skyscrapers
The title of tallest building west of the Mississippi, property of the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles since 1989, will soon go to another building. What does that say about the post-recession of West Coast cities?
Skyscrapers and Starchitects Coming Soon to Downtown San Francisco
Take a tour of the changes coming the to the Transbay District in San Francisco.
Cloud Computing Company Will Have its Name in the Clouds above San Francisco
It is only fitting that Salesforce, whose logo is a cloud, won the naming rights to what will be the West Coast's tallest building when completed in 2017 where they will lease half the space. When the fog rolls in, that's all the workers will see!
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
California city breaks ground on transit connector
The project includes three mobility hubs and a pedestrian bridge.
After public outcry, Massachusetts city releases housing development tracker
Cambridge’s tracker currently shows 250 housing projects in various stages of development.
40 years after approval, Chicago breaks ground on new park
The park honors Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the city’s first permanent non-native settler.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority