CHICAGO | Obama Presidential Library

[vexxed82]

Originally Posted by buildityesterday

Great pics, Nick! The stone almost appears to match the color of MSI in this lighting, which is a cool effect. Does anyone know if the color of the stone will change after it develops a bit of patina? It could look different after a few decades of Chicago weather.

Also, does the layout of the pathways bother anyone else? I'm sure they are made for meandering, but none of them seem very practical for traveling from point A to point B... A nitpick, I know.

Overall, I think this came out phenomenally.

Originally Posted by ardecila

I think we've discussed this to death, but granite in the warmer tone is not available domestically, and the Obamas didn't want to be caught using imported stone instead of American. So we ended up with this New Hampshire granite.

You can get domestic limestone in a warmer tone (Indiana, Kasota, etc) but it's a weaker stone and will need continuous repairs for its entire lifespan.

Originally Posted by sentinel

Those photos are sublime, Nick! Really lovely, thank you.

Originally Posted by twister244

Maybe I'm the anomaly here, but I like the color of the stone. It's really coming through well in Nick's photos with the warm lighting. I feel like if it was a "warmer" color, it might start to get a more beige look......

Just my 2 cents though.

Originally Posted by woodrow

The architects and the Obamas selected the stone together. They looked at a dozen samples and landed on this one. I would imagine they knew it would change the feel of the building from the initial renderings.

I think I agree with you. I little warmer would be nice. Maybe. I won't see it until I tour in July.

Again, fantastic shots Tom.

________

Thanks, all! I really lucked out with the light. I've envisioned this shot for a while and it all fell into place on Saturday. I tried my best to make the stone look neutral, but it was tough in that dusky light. It was more blue in the photos than in reality so I desaturated and warmed the stone up slightly - but the blue cast was moreso due to the fact that the tower was in shadow - particularly the drone shots. In person it's an almost-neutral-but-slighlty-cool gray. Of course, sun angle and atmosphere will always affect the 'mood' of the stone a bit

[Via Chicago]

i do think this building is very lighting dependent. as the pics above illustrate (and the NYT review that came out today mentions), at certain hours and angles it takes on beautiful pink hues. its obviously much starker at mid-day in harsh light.

i do think it will be interesting to see how it ages, especially the landscaping which can do a lot to soften things. millenium park looked a bit awkward when it first opened too and all the saplings and gardens looked fresh and under-developed.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i do think this building is very lighting dependent. as the pics above illustrate (and the NYT review that came out today mentions), at certain hours and angles it takes on beautiful pink hues. its obviously much starker at mid-day in harsh light.

i do think it will be interesting to see how it ages, especially the landscaping which can do a lot to soften things. millenium park looked a bit awkward when it first opened too and all the saplings and gardens looked fresh and under-developed.

Yes, the landscaping is the second half of the architecture and it will only get better with time. Van Valkenburgh is a master.

[Ganesha]

Originally Posted by vexxed82

________

Thanks, all! I really lucked out with the light. I've envisioned this shot for a while and it all fell into place on Saturday. I tried my best to make the stone look neutral, but it was tough in that dusky light. It was more blue in the photos than in reality so I desaturated and warmed the stone up slightly - but the blue cast was moreso due to the fact that the tower was in shadow - particularly the drone shots. In person it's an almost-neutral-but-slighlty-cool gray. Of course, sun angle and atmosphere will always affect the 'mood' of the stone a bit

These are gorgeous pics. Nick, would you ever consider uploading one to Wikimedia Commons? You can set a CC license that will make sure you are given credit, and it could then be used on the Wikipedia page for the center, which currently doesn't have any very high-quality images.

Ganesha