CHICAGO | The Elysian | 686 FT / 209 M | 60 FLOORS | COM

[wrab]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

.....I think much of what has gone up is so damn ugly that anything that is not horrifically ugly is considered an improvement--hence Elysian is an improvement.....

There is a Wall Of Beige from the last two booms centered around Chicago Ave. Pretty awful & embarrassing for a city that prides itself on its built environment. The Loewenberg & Lagrange firms were responsible for the bulk of it. And now Lagrange's Elysian extends The Wall into friendlier design territory. Not an improvement, an encroachment.

[wrab]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

.....For me, it's more a complaint of bad taste rather than blaming the big bad developer for cheaping out, or something.....

To quote the late Herbert Muschamp, "piss elegant."

[the urban politician]

^ I'll go ahead and profess that it's the podiums that are far more visually offensive to me than the beige. Since there is another thread devoted to parking podiums, I'll stop there.

Regarding your pic of "the old days of River North", Viva, that's a nice & fun picture to look at, but I'm not sure I would consider that any better architecturally.

Until I can be convinced that River North has turned the corner and that we will see quality development filling up its remaining vacant lots, I'll have to go ahead and be happy that Elysian was built instead of another Grand Plaza or Walton on the Park

[wrab]

^ Fair enough.

[george]

Love this shot, nice find VivaLFuego. To travel back to this strip for one night would be an adventure.

[UrbanSchmurban]

I should start by saying how much I enjoy and have learned from the critiques in this forum (both sides).

Today I came across this photo from 1989 posted on Flickr by emb111. Not nearly as romantic as the above image. It certainly makes me feel less uneasy about the new construction.

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

So that's what old-timers mean when they say "Chicago? Love that Rush Street!" It never made that much sense to me until now...

[Busy Bee]

I love how there's a sign in front of the 711 saying 'Sign of the times.'

[ethereal_reality]

Rush street was considered a tourist destination in the 1960s and 70s.
I remember my parents driving me through the area when I was a little boy (to see the Chicago bohemians).
It all seemed very exotic/erotic.

[Jibba]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I love how there's a sign in front of the 711 saying 'Sign of the times.'

Ha, that is most excellent. In an unfortunately ironic kind of way. So not really excellent, per se; just entertaining to realize an inherent stupidity and contradiction that 80% of tasteless Elysian buyers don't realize. Or something.

------------------------------------

So, I really didn't want to admit this to myself yet, but is anyone else suspicious that the roofing on the low-rise/motor court portion is going on the top as well? I've seen pictures of that material applied to the roof, but is that really it? Nothing going on top of that? I really hope something else is going to be installed because, well, it's really pathetic looking.

[jcchii]

I remember my parents getting a sitter for me and hearing they were going out to "Rush Street" in about 1976

[VivaLFuego]

Basically the entire stretch from Chicago to Division was nightclubs, strip clubs, restaurants, porn shops, etc. Some of the last few vestiges of the old strip were only recently demolished, like the 4-story red brick building where the one-story crapbox Lulemon is going across the street from Elysian, and the buildings taken down at the north end of that block to build the new Barney's. The Elysian site would be in the background here (looking south from the other end of the block as the top photo in the postcard above):



I guess neighbors considered it all a blight, and bit by bit the vice district was more or less eliminated through regulation and/or development, or otherwise truncated to the high-end/high-price stuff that remains between Oak and Elm.

While I agree with tup that in certain regards the changes have been positive, I do wish I had been of a mind to take in my surroundings a bit more carefully the few times I was in the area before it was irrevocably changed from the late 80s through today, rather than having to rely only on photographs

[george]

OT here, but in the not to distant past this old dive made way for the current CVS.




photo from Google Image Search

[denizen467]

^ Is that State & Division? Once gentrification from the Elysian area hits Division and heads west, I wonder what streets will grow into the next quasi-vice district.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by UrbanSchmurban

I should start by saying how much I enjoy and have learned from the critiques in this forum (both sides).

Today I came across this photo from 1989 posted on Flickr by emb111.

^ All in all, I think what we are getting is a huge improvement:

[LucasS6]

I spent a lot of time at that 7-11 back in the day. The little mini pizzas you warm up in the microwave were my lunch for literally every other day of my entire 7th-8th grade experience.

I never knew Rush was like that, though it makes sense. There was a creepy adult bookstore/porn arcade place on the north side of Walton, between State and Rush when I was going to school at Ogden that always tempted us kids, but also had us wondering how they could get away with a porn shop right there and, more importantly, why they'd want to put it there anyway. Now I know.

[ethereal_reality]

This is a very famous album recorded on Rush Street at Mister Kelly's.


Rush Street in Chicago

[trvlr70]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Basically the entire stretch from Chicago to Division was nightclubs, strip clubs, restaurants, porn shops, etc. Some of the last few vestiges of the old strip were only recently demolished, like the 4-story red brick building where the one-story crapbox Lulemon is going across the street from Elysian, and the buildings taken down at the north end of that block to build the new Barney's. The Elysian site would be in the background here (looking south from the other end of the block as the top photo in the postcard above):



I guess neighbors considered it all a blight, and bit by bit the vice district was more or less eliminated through regulation and/or development, or otherwise truncated to the high-end/high-price stuff that remains between Oak and Elm.

While I agree with tup that in certain regards the changes have been positive, I do wish I had been of a mind to take in my surroundings a bit more carefully the few times I was in the area before it was irrevocably changed from the late 80s through today, rather than having to rely only on photographs

FACES! OMG...I remember hearing about that place. Faces was Chicago's version of Studio 54.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by george

OT here, but in the not to distant past this old dive made way for the current CVS.




photo google

How sad is it that I long for that active Caribou Coffee instead of the street-killing Sprint Wireless store on the corner now?

[viewguysf]

Originally Posted by trvlr70

FACES! OMG...I remember hearing about that place. Faces was Chicago's version of Studio 54.

I moved to San Francisco at the end of 1975 and was away from Chicago for years. I remember coming back for a visit in the mid-90's and being blown away by what had happened to Rush Street. I visit Chicago fairly frequently now and still miss what the street had to offer in the height of its wild and crazy days. [OT, but I felt the same way about what came to be known as River North. A neighborhood with so much personality was demolished into oblivion and much good architecture was lost.]