with regards to the Michigan Ave building where there is currently a Walgreens. I don't mind that building at all. Parking is underground!!!!!!!!!! So it is not a masterpiece but it is so much more pleasant to walk by than a masterpeice with 15 stories of parking.
I got an exact height today for Ten East Delaware. It will be 414'-8" to the top of the mechanical penthouse parapet. We had a height of 410' from a simplified drawing, but that refers to the roof height which is actually 410'-2".
Emporis has changed 50 East Chestnut and 600 North Fairbanks to completed.
About the proposal for 300 North Michigan - I usually stay out of aesthetic discussions on this board, but that design is so offensive that I would almost trade in a good building in order to block its construction. One of Chicago's greatest assets is the cluster of vintage towers around the corner of Michigan and the river, and this will stand right in the middle of the south part. It will loom over the London Guarantee Building and block views of the Carbide & Carbon from the north. At about 600 feet it will be very visible from up and down the avenue. I suppose some building will go there someday anyhow, but please let it be something halfway nice.
With every building there seems to be a "rendering stage" (lasting until it starts to take shape in the skyline) when a certain quota of people look at it positively no matter how bad the design is. That is because of wishful thinking or general optimism. When projects like Grand Plaza or 630 North State or The Caravel were proposed, some people on this forum were actually quite happy about them. Now that they're finished - near-unanimous disgust. I'm just saying it's important to take an imaginative leap beyond the coolness of the rendering.
Almost done now, I am planning to head up there this week hoping to find it complete. I had shit lighting when I took these, but the buildings still show nicely...
From the northeast...
Green roof terraces...
Skip base
Lamps...
Sun came out for about 40 seconds...
New Residents...
Maple Tower Entry...
Linkage between Maple and Elm Towers...
Elm Tower entry..
Retail space
Footpath over the fountain pool, adjacent Tigerman's Holocaust Museum is in the background...
The title should read Developer seeking architects for Michigan Ave. project LOL
The Michigan Ave bridge group is one of the world's great urban spaces; it deserves a much better neighbor than this.
something along the lines of this would fit in great here:
and if not a slender, ultra modern tower, then a glassy, ultra modern 10 story building. not a CLUNKY POMO POS. no thanks.
and i agree with dan! it will ruin that great cluster of old chicago.
YES! Jean Nouvel is the greatest. I've been a fan of his ever since the Arab Institute in Paris. Next month the Pritzker Prize should be announced... aren't Nouvel and Helmut Jahn overdue for it?
YES! Jean Nouvel is the greatest. I've been a fan of his ever since the Arab Institute in Paris. Next month the Pritzker Prize should be announced... aren't Nouvel and Helmut Jahn overdue for it?
who are the architects of OPTIMA? they do really great work
David Hovey, based in Glenview. He also runs the Optima company, which is why each building they do has his distinctive touches, which IMO get better and better with each new project. Its a damn shame Evanston NIMBYs killed what could have been his best project yet: a more urban take on Old Orchard Woods.
Thanks Sam, that came just in time! Today two of us Emporis editors got the exact heights of the new towers. Alta at K Station is under construction: apparently caissons for Cirrus started in January, and for Alta in mid-February. Here are the heights:
Alta at K Station
41 floors
555 West Kinzie Street
417'-1.5" (architectural)
412'-1" (roof)
Cirrus at K Station
37 floors
365 North Jefferson Street
378'-3.5" (architectural)
373'-7.5" (roof)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dan in Chicago
I got an exact height today for Ten East Delaware. It will be 414'-8" to the top of the mechanical penthouse parapet. We had a height of 410' from a simplified drawing, but that refers to the roof height which is actually 410'-2".
Emporis has changed 50 East Chestnut and 600 North Fairbanks to completed.
right on dan, thanks for all of the info. page 1 has been updated accordingly.
by they way, what she we do about the 108 north state condos? i took that project off the list a long time ago because i don't think anyone has a solid idea of exactly what, if anything, is going to be built there, yet emporis still lists it as 21 story condo tower that is U/C. you make the call, i just want to be consistent with emprois' data. is the info we have on 108 north state condos solid enough to really list it as a bona fide project that is U/C?
and shawn, those are some wicked-slick shots of optima skokie, nice work!
MR. HOVEY, PLEASE STOP DICKING AROUND OUT IN THE SUBURBAN WASTELANDS AND GRACE CHICAGO WITH YOUR GENIUS ALREADY!
__________________ "Missing middle" housing can be a marvelous middle ground for many middle class families.
something along the lines of this would fit in great here:and if not a slender, ultra modern tower, then a glassy, ultra modern 10 story building. not a CLUNKY POMO POS. no thanks.
and i agree with dan! it will ruin that great cluster of old chicago.
is that moma in NY? that is pretty bad ass. I'd be all for that in that spot!
If that building proposed for the river and michigan.. if it ever gets even close to approval I'd be willing to picket it. On grounds that it destroys what is to me one of the most enchanting spaces I've ever seen.
... way to take a dump on the traditions, foundations, and uniqueness of Chicago architecture and urbanity. Lord, can't we at least hire architects who know something of and respect the history of their trades.. and the long term nature of their work?
501 is absolutely atrocious too, but at least it's atrocious somewhere else.
__________________
NIMBYism is composed of two constituents:
1. Base selfishness/inertia, and..
2. The unintended consequences of top-down securities & capital laws that frustrate residents' desires to build and change their own communities by dis-empowering their attempts to do so.
by they way, what she we do about the 108 north state condos? i took that project off the list a long time ago because i don't think anyone has a solid idea of exactly what, if anything, is going to be built there, yet emporis still lists it as 21 story condo tower that is U/C. you make the call, i just want to be consistent with emporis' data. is the info we have on 108 north state condos solid enough to really list it as a bona fide project that is U/C?
We'll change that to "on hold" when the podium's done. It might stay there for a few years. You might as well leave it off the list if you want to, because you're right, it's going nowhere fast.
Shawn, great job on OOOW (I like those initials). Hovey's actually in Glencoe, I know you meant to say that . He would be an ideal architect for the eastern parcels of Lakeshore East in my opinion.
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WOW. 
. He would be an ideal architect for the eastern parcels of Lakeshore East in my opinion.
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