one rincon hill

look at this picture and tell me what sticks out.

if you guessed the ugly building sticking out like a sore thumb or a middle finger in the air on the right side of the picture, you guessed it.

while i'm a huge fan of architecture and design, and a proponent of development and economy, the rising of one rincon hill heeds no attention to san francisco's beautiful skyline. it soars above anything around it and is so far removed from the rest of the skyline. glass treatment has been designed to emphasize a false perspective, making the building look smaller (read less floors) than it actually is (55 stories at 741 feet). but you compare it to the rest of the skyline and it looks a little ridiculous and, well, a sore thumb. the transamerica pyramid is actually taller than one rincon hill by 112 feet but is more "at home" with its fellow high-rise brethern in the financial district.

i realize a second tower will rise next to it by 2009 and that the whole south beach, rincon hill area will slowly become high-rise central - a second downtown - but i think this could've been done better with a respect to historical architecture and skyline. yes, i like modernization, but one rincon hill just doesn't do it for me.

this site has a good summary of the new development. any guesses as to how much a junior 1-bed condo will cost in this monster?