[SamInTheLoop]

I attended Mon evening's presentation and discussion, as I know a number of us here did.....

First, completely agree with those that think the refinements in design presented represent improvements.....I think that's pretty clear. I especially like what's going on at the ground levels(s) and all the connectivity and outdoor design down there.....good stuff all around. Like the façade changes overall, especially getting rid of the N and S side inset balconies.....I actually hope they'll do the same for the E and W sides as well (on this account, Magellan has been one of these Chicago developers that stubbornly refuses to give up on the mythology that most residential towers in Chicago need outdoor spaces for individual units to sell/rent......it's outright nonsense and quite frankly a certain level of silliness goes into the thinking given the climate in these parts), and I also like the actual façade details.....much better aesthetically than previous renderings.....

I've got to say that I agree with Pilsenarch and Mr Downtown on the characterization of how Gang offers her rationalizations of her major design moves. I've seen her speak previously at least a couple times years ago (at least one of those was on Aqua), and my coming over to this line of thought (although I've certainly been exposed to it previously, here on SSP via above two mentioned fellow forumers and also elsewhere) didn't really happen in a major way until Monday night. Quite honestly my reaction to the genesis story of the frustrum was a major roll of the eyes.....I got a strong sense that they started with the form, and then worked up a rationization for it moving backwards. I mean, it's quite a stretch otherwise (or in any case). That being said, overall I like the design and think it's pretty cool and aesthetically pleasing, I could just do with out the fake rationale and intellectual underpinnings.

On the issue of the glazing variation throughout based on floorplate size or what have you, again could be a very nice affect and I think it might end up being very nice dependent on execution. That being said, again a roll of the eyes: A solution to the 'problem' of the façade that angles in and out, creating upward/downward-sloping unit exterior glazed walls and varying sized floorplates, which was of course necessitated by the incorporation of the base geometric frustrum element in the tower, which was the most sensible basic facade building block for a tower at this location, because..........what was that again? I think you get the point......