Put "previous" with a colon on either side of it instead: :previous:

those railings suck.

Question:

If "approximating curves with straight lines" is so acceptable, why didn't they pour the concrete balconies in straight sections to "approximate" curves?

Answer:

Because that would look like crap. Just like the railings do.

Used to be, if you only typed two chevrons, it would convert into the little cartoon of 3. Apparently, now you have to do the : previous : thing.

:previous:

I hate to sound like a jerk, but I have to weigh-in on the railings. I've looked at them in person now and also through the great documentation here.

Thus far, huge disappointment. It's not just in the lack of matching curvature, but in many factors: The way they are detailed against bending, the exposed fasteners, the fact that the construction necessitates that they meet at certain angles (usually 180 degrees). It's really distracting and doesn't feel good. Hopefully we won't be able to see much of this without Earlybuyer's telephoto.

What I do like about them is that the volume of the balcony seems fuller now and holds its own against the boxiness more strongly.

don't worry, aqua, i still love you!

*hugs*

gosh all the buzz about some stupid railings that you barely can see anyway from a distance. :koko:

:previous:
Well, this building is held up to a very high standard in my eye, and I'm sure everyone else. And in all honesty, besides the Spire, Aqua could easily be the second most recognizable/talked about/photographed of the bunch so why cut corners. I'm sure no one will be able to notice without a zoom lens, but that is besides the point.

Welcome to the world of Chicago architecture where every shred of minutia is critiqued ad infinitum. Annoying at times, but part of the charm and culture of this city.

"god is in the details" - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe


that said, i don't think the balcony railings are the greatest architectural crime in the world that some of our more hyperbole-prone forumers are making them out to be, but details are important. focusing in on the small amount of railing installed on only one floor so far, the railing's straight sections do stand out and jar the eye a bit. however, once they're installed on the whole building, my hunch is that the effect will be much less pronounced as layer upon layer of balcony railings won't draw the eye exclusively to just one part of them. just my hunch. time will tell.

well my fellow countryman is right with the quote you made, but honestly like you also said I also have seen much worse in Chicagoland and over here in Germany.:)

I do not post photos that much because I am not downtown every day, my camera is not great and others do such a better job of it. Anyway here are some photos of Aqua on 4/18 from the north via the Swiss hotel.



http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208880868

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208880906

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208880971

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208881021

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208881745

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208881444

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208881059

The last ones are from 4/19 early AM with a slipery wet fog rolling in off the lake.

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208881105

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208881211

Sweet angle there, bnk. I got chills just looking at that dude walking out on that crane.

Since everyone is throwing in their two cents about the railings, I am going to be annoying and throw mine in too: I think they are just fine. They do not approximate the curves perfectly, but the margin of deviation is respectably small for what is a makeshift, custom piece of metal work (by the looks of it anyway). They don't have the precision and finish of, say, the railings for the balconies of Marina City, but those balconies are identical to one another and were (relatively) mass-produced, and they are a simple semi-circular shape. I would agree that they look a little "generic" and don't really echo the overall architecture of the building (save the curvature), but I feel that if they did obtain this level of design they would look a little too cute and be too much of an architectural indulgence. Also, most of the unpleasant details of the railings will likely fade away when the building is complete and the facade has its white paint scheme complete: the railings will be visually over-powered by the facade and will likely blend in with the window frames behind them.

Great Angle, bnk
 

They are going to have a great view of Millenium Park.

Hotels and Condos up to the 60th floor probably will have most of their Millennium Park/Grant Park views blocked by the BCBS expansion. That still leaves about 20 floors of condos with great views though.

Soaring Higher, from this angle (taken by bnk) there will be a view of MP. You can see the view coridor though BCBS and AON

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1208881021

Yeah, I was just looking at that and thinking about how much I envy Aqua's future residents. Right near Grant Park, Millennium Park, the Spire, Soldier Field, etc.

Great pictures bnk-perspective(s) we have not seen much of, or at all. Additionally, the photo's with the construction crew assists with understanding and appreciating the scale of the project and its materials.

I may be wrong, but aren't these wavy balconies just getting started? Meaning, we are just beginning to see what will be a increasingly extreme curve as the building goes up? If so, Jibbas pictures are only going to get better and better as it rises.

As has been discussed before (perhaps it was at SSC), the extent of the protrusion of the balconies will not be any more so in the floors to come (this is how I interpreted your description of an increasingly extreme curve, but please correct me if I am mistaken). The renders of the tower that show increased balcony protrusion (and hence increasing expression of the resulting wave phenomenon) with increasingly higher floors were stated by many to be misleading because of the way that the computer program that produced the render accounts for perspective (or rather doesn't account for it). As far as I know, the extent of balcony protrusion in the higher floors will be comparable to that of the floors already constructed, and so the pattern will be propagated further but the "amplitude" of the "waves" will remain the same. I am having difficulties locating the page that was relevant to this issue, so perhaps one of the people part of that original discussion can chime in.