SimCity 3000 buildings real-life counterparts

[Captain Adam 423]

Hello everyone, as you already know, I am a big fan of SimCity 3000, so I decided to make a list of the game's buildings that are based of real life buildings, Please tell me if you know any buildings that are mentioned here. (shout outs to Don Miguel, Odainsaker and others from the Maxis References thread).

I would also like to thank whoever made this website, it was a great source for some of these buildings.
- Services / Rewards
(1) City Hall - Rhode Island State House
 

(2) ...

- Residentials:
(1) The Fritz - NYC Union Square Hotel (unsure of this one)

   

(2) Stoclet Apartments - Stoclet Palace
   

(3) Palazzo Apartments - City Hall Post Office and Courthouse
 

(4) Red Brick Apartments - Terminals Building (Chicago)


- Commercials :
(1) Maxis Theater - Chicago Theater in Chicago
 

(2) Bradbury Building - Bradbury Building
   

(3) Hurt Plaza - In the buildings of SimCity website, it is mentioned that the hurt plaza is probably based off the Hobart Building in San Francisco, California, and I think it might be a cominbation of that and the 150 West Jefferson building from Detroit, Michigan.
   

(4) Triangle Terrace - Northwest Towe (Coyote Building)
   

(5) Wilkinson Tower - PSFS Building
   

(6) Kate Foundation - 225 West Wacker
   

(7) Kong Tower - scrapped Chrysler Building Design
   

(8) Quigley Insurance - Eliel Saarinen's Tribune Tower design
   

(9) Justin Brown Plaza - 1 New York Plaza
   

(10) Silver Tower - 2 New York Plaza
   

(11) Smiley Sons and Daughters Foundation - 2 Harrison Street  
 

(12) Arbor Plaza - 500 California Street (there are several similarities between the two buildings)
   

(13) Insurance Plaza - 475 Sansome Street (similar facade)


(14) Zachary Thomas Insurance - Tour Total 
 

(15) Gray Matter Place - Koin Center

(16) Corporate Ground Zero Plaza - 500 5th Avenue
 

(17) Eugene Marazzani Memorial Plaza - Shell Building, San Francisco
   
- Asian Buildings :

(1) Bluerise Plaza - Crystal Tower
   

(2) Import Export Inc. - Custom House, Shanghai 
   

(3) T.C. Wong's House -  Sir Richard Rogers' Kabuki-chō Project Hayashibara 5th Building
   

(4) Jadyn's Tower - Maybank Tower
   

(5) (can someone provide me with the in game name) - Shinjuku Park Tower
   

(6) Huge Enterprise - Umeda Sky Building
   

(7) not sure of the ingame name - Yokohama Landmark Tower
   

(8) Tameki Tower - Central Plaza (Hong Kong)
   

(9) Kochavatr Foundation - NEC Supertower

  Edited January 31 by Captain Adam  
improvement

[SimCityHawk 194]

@Captain Adam Truly awesome work. Nice to see the buildings than I've been looking at since 1999 in real life. I know that some of the high-density commercial skyscrapers in the European setting in SC3K Unlimited is from Frankfurt, Germany. 

Here is a couple of pictures that I found on https://www.simworld.de/reale-gebaeude2.html:

[SimCityHawk 194]

Another thing...

The triangle Terrace. I've always wondered what's up with that woman who's displayed on the backside of that building. And notice the remains of an old Milk advert, probably from the 50's. This facade gives a good representation of a shady alley in an early 2000's big city setting. 

 Triangle Terrace - Northwest Towe (Coyote Building)

[The Thinker 479]

1 hour ago, SimCityHawk said:

Another thing...

The triangle Terrace. I've always wondered what's up with that woman who's displayed on the backside of that building. And notice the remains of an old Milk advert, probably from the 50's. This facade gives a good representation of a shady alley in an early 2000's big city setting. 

Is that supposed to be a woman?  I've always assumed that figure was a bearded man!

[The Thinker 479]

I've been trying to find a decent picture of this place, but here is a snap of Battersea Power Station:

I credit my dad for pointing this out to me, but methinks that the Coal Power Plants are a bit of a ringer for this place, no?

[SimCityHawk 194]

14 hours ago, The Thinker said:

Is that supposed to be a woman?  I've always assumed that figure was a bearded man!

Lol, yea I see what you mean. 

14 hours ago, The Thinker said:

I credit my dad for pointing this out to me, but methinks that the Coal Power Plants are a bit of a ringer for this place, no?

Yea, definitely. I've seen it in movies a couple of times, and the similarity is unmistakable. Makes me wonder if there are more power plants with this design in the world.

[TheEstGuy 721]

Thank you @Captain Adam, I just found this thread and it is amazing how many buildings you found and put here. Never knew that so much of those buildings were actually real in the world. And I am in awe of these extra beautiful mansions are real, they looked so over the top that I doubted these would be actually real. Thanks again for founding all of those! 

[Captain Adam 423]

On 12/09/2022 at 4:58 PM, TheEstGuy said:

Thank you @Captain Adam, I just found this thread and it is amazing how many buildings you found and put here. Never knew that so much of those buildings were actually real in the world. And I am in awe of these extra beautiful mansions are real, they looked so over the top that I doubted these would be actually real. Thanks again for founding all of those! 

Thanks! actually, I think this post has some mistakes, I am planning to fix it and look for new buildings again sometime soon 

[kSlank 153]

I knew they look familar!

[Captain Adam 423]

I made this post 6 years ago! kinda insane to think about that, I just went back and improved the initial post and removed the outdated photos. Anyway, here are a few more results.

• Performing Arts Center - based on the design for the Kaiser Franz Josef-Stadtmuseum (thanks Buildings of SimCity)

• Mullet Hi-Rise - Eisenhower Executive Office Building (thanks Buildings of SimCity)

• Spicoli Center - 525 Market Street in San Francisco (thanks Buildings of SimCity)

• Retail Exchange - Richfield Tower (thanks Buildings of SimCity)

• Aquilina Building - sketch of an unbuilt building by Antonio Sant’Elia (thanks Buildings of SimCity)

•  

[Lab Rat 16]

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