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I'm not a fan of this idea. I usually don't have a problem with decorative lighting on skyscrapers, but an illuminated "JPMorgan" sign won't look good on this tower.
www.bostonglobe.com

JPMorgan bets on Boston with plan to emblazon name on new tower - The Boston Globe

In a sign of its growing clout in Massachusetts, the New York-based bank formally applied last week to install its name atop one of Boston’s tallest skyscrapers.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
In a sign of its growing clout in Massachusetts, the New York-based bank formally applied last week to install its name atop one of Boston’s tallest skyscrapers. It wants to put “JPMorgan” in 12-foot (3.7-meter) lettering on the building more than 650 feet up, according to its application with the city, which was obtained through a public records request.
Corporate tower signage is common in many US cities but in Boston it’s historically been a rarity reserved for a few big local employers. While that’s started to change over the past decade — and the Prudential Tower has long been a notable exception — most of the branding still belongs to Boston-based companies such as State Street Corp. and the insurer John Hancock.
JPMorgan also intends to occupy around 250,000 square feet (23,200 square meters) in South Station Tower, which would make it the skyscraper’s largest tenant yet, according to people familiar with the matter. The agreement isn’t final.
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Are they saying they want to "install its name" in physical letters like the Pru and State Street or just change the LED paneling to show the text "JP Morgan"? The snippet above reads like the former, but in the article they state the following, which sounds like it's just on the LED panels. Curious if anyone caught this when it was up...

On Halloween, Boston officials gave the bank permission to see what it would look like, if only for a few hours. But it sought just to put up a few of the letters — limited to “ProM,” according to JPMorgan’s request — in order to hide its identity from onlookers.
 
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Suffolk 83 said:
Eh I’m fine with it. Skyscrapers identity is wrapped up in capitalism (in this country) so why not. Doesn’t seem any worse than State Street to me
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But the city's identity isn't. I'd rather look at buildings' architecture than their billboards. And I'd rather look at a cohesive skyline than one with signs on top of it. If this were a billboard forum I might agree with you, but it's an architecture forum.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
Doesn’t seem any worse than State Street to me
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JP Morgan is symbolic in a lot of people's minds of a predatory type of capitalism, and also doesn't have Boston roots. State Street, on the other hand, is part of the city's history, the bank established in 1792 in Boston. When I see "State Street", I think Boston.
 
Unlike with State Street, there's people living near the top of the South Station Tower. Would the sign potentially bother the residents? Obviously we already had One Dalton make a last minute decision to leave the lit tree signs off the top of the building. I'm wondering if we'd run into any of the same issues here.

On the other hand, the top three mech floors are already lit up so maybe it wouldn't really make a difference.
 
Charlie_mta said:
JP Morgan is symbolic in a lot of people's minds of a predatory type of capitalism, and also doesn't have Boston roots. State Street, on the other hand, is part of the city's history, the bank established in 1792 in Boston. When I see "State Street", I think Boston.
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JP Morgan (the banker, not the bank) at least has Boston roots. He graduated from English high school.
 
DZH22 said:
Would the sign potentially bother the residents?
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Charlie_mta said:
JP Morgan is symbolic in a lot of people's minds of a predatory type of capitalism, and also doesn't have Boston roots. State Street, on the other hand, is part of the city's history, the bank established in 1792 in Boston. When I see "State Street", I think Boston.
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I think of my husband's mom's investment statements for State Street. JP Morgan, too, in fact.
 
chrisbrat said:
In terms of international recognition, I fully agree Fenway is there, but I promise you more people in Ireland and Spain (etc.) have an awareness of the Pru than they do Paul Revere's house or the Public Garden.
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Not that it matters except for strangers arguing online, I will also make an assumption or two... that tourists generally couldn't care less about skyscrapers, and that they check out sites like Trip Advisor before they visit another place. Here are the top tourist attractions for Boston on Trip Advisor (link below):

• Old North Church is both #6 (as shown in the photo for the North End) and #21.
• Paul Revere’s house is #2 (as part of the Freedom Trail).
• Boston Public Garden is #5.
• Fenway Park is #1.
• The Pru is #19.

 
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SMCYB said:
Not that it matters except for strangers arguing online, I will also make an assumption or two... that tourists generally couldn't care less about skyscrapers, and that they check out sites like Trip Advisor before they visit another place. Here are the top tourist attractions for Boston on Trip Advisor (link below):

• Old North Church is both #6 (as shown in the photo for the North End) and #21.
• Paul Revere’s house is #2 (as part of the Freedom Trail).
• Boston Public Garden is #5.
• Fenway Park is #1.
• The Pru is #19.

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Fair point. I meant more that, via movies and coverage of sports etc., people - whether they "care" about skyscrapers or not - see things like the Pru and Fenway, both of which are fairly distinctive, whereas Paul Revere's house is... a small, black house and the Public Garden is a garden. I dunno. It's all anecdotal, I'm just going by non-local, non-U.S. folks I know and their understanding of Boston.
 
bdurden said:
It all depends on the city and context. No doubt tourists go out of their way to visit the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building. No one comes to Boston to see the Pru.
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I think it's a pretty small subset of tourists that would go to an American building literally just to see it. They go because there's stuff to do.

You can go to the tops of the Empire State building and the Pru, and it's pretty cool, and yes tourists do this. There's also a mall and a convention center at the base of the Pru. I was aware of the Pru as a high schooler from suburban Connecticut because of those attractions.

I had never heard of the taller (and arguably much more beautiful) Hancock tower until I moved here.
 
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