# Cities With A Impressive Collective Skyline but Disappointing Individual Buildings?



## Travis007 (Jul 19, 2004)

I think the 3 cities that first come to mind are Sao paolo, Tokyo, and Seoul. 

Sao Paolo, which hands down has the most buildings over 12s (32k I believe), does not have a single impressive building that stands out. Even the tallest which is about 590 ft. is pretty boring.

Seoul and Tokyo are kind of te same IMO, both have highrise counts over 2000 (according to Emporis), and the tallest building (excluding Tokyo Tower) around 800 ft. But both cities don't really have a single impressive or distinguishable building. Tokyo has the City Hall building but I would hardly call that beautiful, same thing with Seoul.

I'm sure most people would say Hong Kong because of all the repetitive "commie blocks" but HKG does have its fair shar of beautiful buildings too (2IFC, NINA, Central Plaza, The Centre, Cheung-Kong, Highcliff, Langham, LIPPO, COSCO, Shangri-La, Manulife, BoCHK, etc.)


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## london-b (Jul 31, 2004)

New York, sorry


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## AcesHigh (Feb 20, 2003)




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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

Tokyo, Sao Paolo or Shanghai (there are some that are nice, a lot that are ugly). Calgary has some boring skyscrapers, as does Montréal, but otherwise nice skylines.


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## wjfox (Nov 1, 2002)

I must admit, Paris (La defense) was the first skyline that came to mind.

The density is incredible for a European city, but most of the individual buildings are rather dull.


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## The Mad Hatter!! (Oct 27, 2004)

SAO PAULO,tokyo,


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## The Mad Hatter!! (Oct 27, 2004)

delete


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## PotatoGuy (May 10, 2005)

I'd say Sao Paolo, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, all three are very dense and have many skyscrapers but there's no individual building that defines the city or skyline


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## Travis007 (Jul 19, 2004)

NYC is a big one too. Many people just only notice ESB, Chrysler, Woolworth, AI, Trump, etc. but not every single building in that skyline is a beautiful work of art-deco. NYC just like any crowded skyline will have a lot of crap buildings in it too.

And although I quite like many of Vancouver's condos and how most of them add to the collecive skyline, there just isn't enough variety in the skyline.


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## Nouvellecosse (Jun 4, 2005)

^ New York City is not one of the cities I would place in this category because it has an abundance of beautiful and iconic buildings. In the absence of the WTC, all of NY's tallest buildings are works of art. A city doesn't need all of its buildings to be stunning; it really only needs the most visible ones to be. When every building is flamboyant or avant-garde, none look as special in each other's presence.


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## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

I would say that BOC in HK really defines the skyline for me. I guess 2IFC as well, but not as much, since it's much newer.


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## JDRS (Feb 8, 2004)

Paris, Tokyo, Sao Paulo.


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## philadweller (Oct 30, 2003)

Vancouver should be on that list. The skyline is very impressive, especially at sunset. One close look a the urban fabric (especially in the West End and along False Creek)and it is really nothing special, just ordinary concrete and glass buildings with balconies.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

New York and Hong Kong shouldn't be part of this list! Skyscrapers of both cities show character.

New York is a city known of it's mixture of architecture, from Art Deco to post-modernism. Don't tell me that The Empire State Building or the Chrysler look boring. The Empire State Building is one of the greatest skyscraper in the world if not, the greatest! Of course there some buildings in NYC that aren't impressive but NY's skyscrapers are known worldwide.

It's the same with HK. I can't imagine someone saying that buildings like The Bank Of China, HSBC building or The Lippo Center look dull!

Sao Paulo on the other hand is a different story. Most of it's buildings look bland. One of the reasons is Sao Paulo is a megalopolis and the city need to contruct builidngs to house it's residents. To them, it is not that important to build stylish buildings but provide housing for it's people. It was both a success and a failure. The Banespa Building to me is one the most impressive buildings in that city but the Edicico Italia?


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## PanaManiac (Mar 26, 2005)

*Awsome collectively, ordinary individually*

One of the least known cities on this forum, Panama City epitomizes the title of this thread with a skyline that's easily in the top 15 worldwide. There isn't a single building that would challenge anything one would find in, say, Dubai. At least not yet. But given the rate of construction there (click on above link), it won't be long before one stands out, if only because it so towers over the others.


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## Rene Nunez (Mar 14, 2005)

Some cities should not be on this list. Like New York and Hong Kong...How much more wrong can you get? What were you on when you thought of those two....Anyway other places should have been added...


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## Joshapd (May 21, 2004)

I don't think that the buildings in La defense are dull, to me they look better then Canary Warf


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## PotatoGuy (May 10, 2005)

^^ i agree, i like la defense, very modern, its a lot like canary wharf but in my opinion better cuz its all together


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## Byron (Oct 6, 2002)

london-b said:


> New York, sorry


I'm sorry, what?!? :runaway:


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## GM (Feb 29, 2004)

San Francisco is in this category, IMO.
Sydney too.

These two cities have amazing natural settings and quite impressive skylines, but I can't think of one single really cool or beautiful building about them.
And don't say me Transamerica Pyramid. This skyscraper is just a bit dull and too 1960's dated.


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## James Saito (Nov 6, 2002)

Toronto


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## Sa Town Tx Gringo (Jul 14, 2005)

Richmond! If you have ever been there you know what im talking about! Very dense skyline for a city its size but nothing that sticks out.


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## United-States-of-America (Jul 19, 2005)

Toronto has disappointing skyscrapers, but an impressive collective skyline.


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## london-b (Jul 31, 2004)

Byron said:


> I'm sorry, what?!? :runaway:


Well, there are so many skyscrapers they can't all be great, not that NY has no great skyscrapers, because it does.


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## mumbojumbo (Dec 8, 2004)

Both Seoul and Tokyo do have impressive buildings. There are tons of modern and aesthetically pleasing buildings in both cities, of which, if in any other smaller city, would be labeled as a landmark. The problem with these two cities is the height restriction. There are so, so many buildings yet none of them really "stand out" or qualify as a big landmark because they are all around the same height. 

Of the cities I know, I'd choose Vancouver. Vancouver has an awesome skyline, yet none of the buildings in Vancouver are really impressive.


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## SHiRO (Feb 7, 2003)

Tokyo has some of my favourite skyscrapers.


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## Manila-X (Jul 28, 2005)

Thats what I think about most skyscrapers in Chinese cities.

Cities like Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen, Dalian or even Shanghai have impressive skylines but it's buildings aren't that impressive at all!

Even Shanghai! When I look at the skyline, only the Jin Mao looks impressive but the rest don't attract me at all! Most skyscrapers in Shanghai are typical of China.

That's the same thing with Guangzhou. It's residential flats resemble those of HK's. It's tallest building isn't that impressive to me! It's the same with Shenzhen as well!


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## gutooo (Jan 30, 2005)

yeah yeah yeah....

I must agree to this polls results until now...and i vote for São PaUlo too!!!

I think we have some really beautiful buildings and some really cool ones.....but we dont have any REALLY good one.....=[

and please....call it Sao Paulo not Sao Paolo....i dont know why most of people call it that way.....


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## shibuya_suki (Apr 24, 2005)

^sao paulo no doubt the ugly residential capital in the world,following by dozen of chinese city


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## Indigoman (Sep 6, 2005)

I think Beijing and Sao paolo. Although most of Tokyo's buildings may not be beautiful, they are very modern.


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## PanaManiac (Mar 26, 2005)

GM said:


> San Francisco is in this category, IMO.
> Sydney too.
> 
> These two cities have amazing natural settings and quite impressive skylines, but I can't think of one single really cool or beautiful building about them.
> And don't say me Transamerica Pyramid. This skyscraper is just a bit dull and too 1960's dated.


In San Francisco, the pyramid is cool. It's a _signature_ structure. Without it, you'd have to be very familiar with the skyline to tell it's San Francisco. With it, the most casual observer can identify the skyline, like Empire State bldg. for NYC, or Eiffel Tower for Paris. Also, any skyline shot that includes the Golden Gate Bridge makes San Francisco identifiable.

The Opera House and Harbor Bridge (both signature structures) also make Sydney distinguishable.


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## Wallbanger (Mar 8, 2005)

Vancouver. 
The condos. 
but the skyline is nice, 
I quite like the West End style buildings, a lot actually. 
They remind me of San Francisco. 
Theyre neat. 
The condos arent great. 

Toronto. 
Its skyline is very impressive, but too many boxy buildings!

New York City, on the other hand, has a very large skyline (I dont persoanlly think its that interesting, it looks like Vancouvers, just taller. Not much Varitey in height)
but the buildings, seperate, are quite spectacular.


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## Byron (Oct 6, 2002)

london-b said:


> Well, there are so many skyscrapers they can't all be great, not that NY has no great skyscrapers, because it does.


I see what you're saying, but I just think the spectacular ones really make up for all the drab ones. Of course that's just my opinion.


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## algonquin (Sep 24, 2004)

I see Toronto's in second place.

I must add, in defense, that Toronto's image suffers from 

a) it's lackluster residential towers and 

b) a lack of appreciation for modernism and the international style in these forums.

Consider the buildings that comprise the typical Toronto lakefront skyline... the CN Tower, the Skydome, all 5 TD Centre Towers, Scotia Plaza, Commerce Court.... say what you will but none of the above are anything less than extrordinary, and each represent the best qualities of thier individual styles (early modernism, late modernism, post modernism, observation towers...)

What I'm saying is that the good outwieghs the bad.


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## Cee_em_bee (May 12, 2004)

Sydney


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## Vanman (May 19, 2004)

I would agree that many of Vancouvers condos are boring but in its defense some of these buildings are quite unique










Where have you seen condos like this:









The middle glass part of these buildings curve in 3d to look like the sail of a boat, I wish i had better pictures to illustrate this


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## Accura4Matalan (Jan 7, 2004)

I feel my city has a pretty good skyline but bad individual buildings.
Whats wrong with Toronto's? :?


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## Effer (Jun 9, 2005)

Mumbai and Beijing!


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## Plex (Sep 7, 2005)

Sao Paulo has really ugly buildings


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