It’s a little hard to know what to make of George Claflen’s claim that Comcast Technology Tower is “the best precedent” for 270 Park. I suppose it’s a precedent in the sense that the former was designed by the same firm and finished before construction began on the latter, but by that somewhat expansive definition London’s Millennium Bridge (2002), Kuala Lumpur’s Ilham Tower (2015), and Hong Kong International Airport (1998) also constitute glaring omissions.
Or maybe the operative word is “best”? I respect hometown pride, at least when the hometown in question is Philadelphia, but surely Claflen’s fondness for an overworked rework of Frankfurt’s underrated Commerzbank Tower (1997) isn’t enough to justify claims of lineage. It’s not even the best Philadelphia skyscraper with Comcast in the name! Much as I hate to speak well of the dead, Robert A. M. Stern Architects’ Comcast Center (2008) has a soothing, Pelliesque mediocrity I appreciate from any angle. Maybe I should have mentioned it.
As far as credit and oversimplification, I should note that I do refer to Fo…
