Am I reading that shadow line right? It looks as if the ground floor angles back from the property line. Either that, or the curtain wall itself is angled. I'm a bit disappointed by the ground floor, honestly. Columbia's spending a ton of money on a slick new curtain-wall system to evoke the 1913 facade, but the street frontage remains pretty boring and average. I'd like to see Gensler address that.
Regardless, it's a neat concept. There's been a small but promising trend of Chicago architects using fritted glass in new, innovative ways.
It reminds me of 4240's plan for the former Bond Store on State... letting a modern butt-glazed curtain wall evoke the original stone panels, while giving the glass some opacity to make it more closely resemble stone. (The Sol LeWitt-inspired frit pattern on Bond is genius...)
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la forme d'une ville change plus vite, hélas! que le coeur d'un mortel...
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