CHICAGO | 300 North LaSalle | 785 FT / 239 M | 60 FLOORS - Page 2

HK Chicago · #21 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 5:13 AM**

Quote:

Why do they do that?

KE is a very prestigious (and self-absorbed) firm, it's for easy identification of their offices from the outside. Considering the energy cost it's a way of saying "look what we can afford."

Suburban Lou · #22 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 5:18 AM**

The Chicago skyline is going to be amazing in a few years.(Not that it isn't already.)

Fabb · #23 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 8:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by HK Chicago

From that rendering I see stainless which is a beautiful thing. This tower is the stainless version of 181 W Madison.

I immediatly thought of 181 W Madison. Only this one is taller and has a better location.
It'll be more than a filler.

LA21st · #24 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 1:24 PM**

Great tower. I think more office space is needed around the Merchandise Mart el station. Its a busy transfer point between the purple and brown lines.

Chad · #25 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 3:44 PM**

Great looking, stunning design !!!

Whats occupied the current site of this right now?

Fabb · #26 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 4:11 PM**

Designed by the internationally recognized architectural firm Pickard Chilton

Never heard of this firm.
But I like the work they did for Hines.

EDIT : I just did my little research. They also designed the beautiful Symphony Tower in Atlanta.

some_stupid_nut · #27 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 4:14 PM**

I like it a lot! Good job!

The top kind of looks like the top on that building in Melbourne(?) but more expanded.

Well according to their site the firm has been open only since 1997. But I guess thats almost 10 years!

No wonder the site looks familliar! They designed Symphony Tower in Atlanta!

the urban politician · #28 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 4:17 PM**

Great looking!

Bye bye ugly fucking garage

Hines is impressing me so far. For a Houston-based company, they know how to build highrises in a way that is suitable for Chicago's majestic downtown

1 S. Dearborn also turned out quite nice

Too many people are building plazas, though. I want a streetwall, damn it!

SevenSevenThree · #29 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 5:45 PM**

I really like this tower. A very strong, clean solid design. I am extremely anxious to see how the Chicago River Canyon turns out in a few years. It should be a man-made wonder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Too many people are building plazas, though. I want a streetwall, damn it!

Im glad that it has a plaza. And correct me if Im wrong but arent all new river developments required to leave a certain amount of space between it and the river for the whole Chicago Riverwalk project? I think this development is just another piece in the puzzle for a larger scaled vision.

Steely Dan · #30 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 8:21 PM**

here are some of the designs that ricardo bofill drew up for this piece of land at some point in the past. all i can say is THANK FUCKING CHRIST none of these things got built. one bofill marring the river is way more than enough. the pickard chilton design we're getting at this site may not be ground breaking, but it's thousands of times better than any of these things.

Tom In Chicago · #31 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 8:32 PM**

Oh yeah. . . I should probably add these designs as 'never built' to the Emporis database. . . thankfully the commercial real estate market crashed before they could move on them

Steely Dan · #32 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 10:17 PM**

^ the website i got those bofill designs from indicated that the project was to be 70 stories tall.

also, this is the same site of that old 2,000' telecom/observation tower proposal from several years ago, you know, that pelli designed one that looked like it was straight out of coruscant. i don't know if you add towers to the emporis data base or not.

Norsider · #33 Posted **Aug 27, 2005, 11:23 PM**

My own prediction is that this will be a very commercially successful tower.

Tom In Chicago · #34 Posted **Aug 28, 2005, 1:07 AM**

^Agreed. . .

deejer8 · #35 Posted **Aug 28, 2005, 1:12 AM**

That one on the left looks a lot like the R.H. Donnelly building that is right across the river from that site...

Steely Dan · #36 Posted **Aug 28, 2005, 1:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by deejer8

That one on the left looks a lot like the R.H. Donnelly building that is right across the river from that site...

yeah, it's same architect. r.r. donelly is ugly enough as it is, can you imagine how awful it would have been to have another po-mo crap-fest like it just across the river. yuck.

Fabb · #37 Posted **Aug 28, 2005, 7:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norsider

My own prediction is that this will be a very commercially successful tower.

Based on what ?
Location ? Reputation of the developer ?

sentinel · #38 Posted **Aug 28, 2005, 8:40 AM**

Bofill's firm does do some nice renderings, even though their/his designs are crap-tastic.

rds989 · #39 Posted **Aug 28, 2005, 1:34 PM**

I know many people don't like RR Donnelly, but I've always rather liked it even though I generally don't like pomo. It has nice stainless steel lines that are attractively shimmery in the right light, its massing is straightforward and not cutesy, and I think faux-classicism is better than faux beaux arts. Lots of the old buildings we love on LaSalle are classical revival too. It is built with high-quality materials, and doesn't have too many excessive flourishes like extraneous finials or anything.

Off topic, I know, but I just wanted to give some love to what I think is an overly-maligned building that I think is actually pretty good and adds visual interest and diversity to the river.

Pandemonious · #40 Posted **Aug 28, 2005, 4:28 PM**

I really don't see why RR Donnelly gets so much shit. While it isn't the most exciting design ever, it definitely has its nice points, and looks bitchin at sunset. I really like the almost "skeletal" look of how the stone cladding is done. I am crossing my fingers that 300 N LaSalle and Waterview get off the ground. Along with Trump, this will create an entirely different skyscraper canyon along the river than we are used to now.