CHICAGO | St. Regis Chicago (Vista) | 1,191 FT | 101 FLOORS

[FlashingLights]

Originally Posted by Notyrview

I'm jumping on the Paint It Black bandwagon, but adding some super dark green window columns too.

Yeah this just needs to be darker blue or black.

[wierdaaron]

I'd say the LSE area itself attracts a kind of anti-nimby mindset, a type willing to adventure the prospect of living in an underdeveloped but very expensive section of the heart of downtown in exchange for the location and views and (in the case of Aqua) the emotional allure of living in or near a famous building. Those types are probably excited by the prospect of new development in their area, and can deal with a bit of their view altering.

A colleague lives in Aqua, and when I shared this building with him he seemed excited at the prospect of another Gang building so close by. But his view is to the north, and so is probably safe.

[nergie]

Originally Posted by wierdaaron

I'd say the LSE area itself attracts a kind of anti-nimby mindset, a type willing to adventure the prospect of living in an underdeveloped but very expensive section of the heart of downtown in exchange for the location and views and (in the case of Aqua) the emotional allure of living in or near a famous building. Those types are probably excited by the prospect of new development in their area, and can deal with a bit of their view altering.

A colleague lives in Aqua, and when I shared this building with him he seemed excited at the prospect of another Gang building so close by. But his view is to the north, and so is probably safe.

As a LSE resident who will have his view impacted, all I have to say is LETS GET THE CASE RIGS DRILLING!!!!

[LouisVanDerWright]

Someone accurately observed on Curbed that this building is channeling Brancusi's Column of the Infinite:


redbubble.net

Just further reinforces the idea that Gang is moving towards monumentalism in her designs. It's not about form follows function, it is about form, monumental form...

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

. . . channeling Brancusi's Column of the Infinite:

Also claimed as inspiration for the new Roosevelt University tower.

To me, this seems more like the Column of the Corpulent. Those look like Aon-sized floorplates, and I don't understand how that can work with hotel rooms or luxury condos.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Also claimed as inspiration for the new Roosevelt University tower.

To me, this seems more like the Column of the Corpulent. Those look like Aon-sized floorplates, and I don't understand how that can work with hotel rooms or luxury condos.

They are probably larger than Aon in the lower floors, but they are narrower, that's how it works. The width of the building is irrelevant, it is the depth of the floor that matters. Since this building is extremely rectangular on the E-W axis, the depth from core to the exterior is actually not much more than that of the Coast or any of the other recent buildings in LSE:




I also have decided that probably the best "justification" Jeanne has here for the arbitrary design is the good old "views" excuse she used with Aqua. Having an undulating facade pattern like this is essentially the residential version of the "multiple corner offices" approach used by many 1980's pomo skyscrapers or the first Chicago Schools bay windows. Just add more corners to the building and you open up more views, more air circulation, etc.. Some units here will have their views pinched a bit (whereever the frustums narrow in the middle tier), but many many more units will have artificial corner views created where the frustums expand.

The best thing about Aqua isn't how it looks from the ground, it is the exhilarating feeling of actually experiencing the units. I had the pleasure of spending an evening in a condo on a high floor of that building with one of the deepest corner balconies (where they soar 12' or so away from the corner) and standing on that balcony was literally breathtaking. You were projected out beyond the rest of the balconies and felt almost as if you were flying. The effect of the wavy balconies is about 10X stronger on floor 64 than it is on the ground. This building will likely have the same effect particularly in the units on the projecting edge of the frustums. Part of the reasoning for the Hancock's tapered design was to reduce vertigo in the residential units, part of the effect here will be to greatly increase vertigo in half of the units. Can you imagine having a downward facing corner unit in the top of the middle stack? It would be like living inside the Hancock's new "Tilt" attraction, but on a 90 degree corner. Absolutely thrilling, just like standing on a 60th floor balcony projecting on a 6" slab of concrete 12' out into the air. It's exciting and that is almost justification enough in itself...

[LouisVanDerWright]

Well it's pretty clear that the lack of NIMBY's is due to the fact that this area has been planned from the onset to be this huge. No one can claim they didn't know a building was planned for this lot because it has been explicitly designated for a large, view terminating, building since the area was laid out. In the same vein, the area already has all the basic developer entitlements in place. These buildings are more or less pre-approved from a zoning perspective and, as such, there really isn't any venue in which any NIMBY contingency could make their obnoxious voices heard. Finally, being planned from the onset ended up resulting in an ideal layout from a views perspective where no ones toes are really getting stepped on when the next tower goes up. The buildings are all linked together like a jigsaw puzzle where there are no "loose ends" from a planning perspective.

The towers are placed in rows with ideal spacing between them and the low rise portions create a sense of human scale and provide a seamless streetwall to the development. Another example; even though others were fretting about this before, the views of Aqua from (and therefore to) the river will still be quite substantial. Enough space is given between all buildings that there are always a few ways to appreciate these buildings from a distance. As a result there are also always a few corridor views from each building which, to me, is far more exciting that pure height without much to look at. The views from the Trump Hotel, for example, are much more intriguing than the views from the condo units because you are looking at the lake down the river canyon and not from above the canyon.

LSE is really one of the bigger planning successes in the United States for a long time. There are very few places in this country where such a large project was so successful over such a long time. Obviously there are other megaprojects now getting under way, but this was really the first massive downtown section redevelopment since WWII. It really is on or beyond the scale of historical mega projects like Rockafeller Center. Once it is fully built out it will be an even more impressive spectacle to behold.

[tyleraf]

Love the height the design isn't my favorite but it will look good on the skyline. I look forward to watching this rise since I'm moving to Chicago this summer.

[supertallchaser]

we need a diagram update

[Randomguy34]

Judging from the photos of what the skyline will potentially look like, it seems that the John Hancock will be blocked by the new tower. The John Hancock will probably still be visible as long as you go to the far side of Adler Planetarium, but that fact alone really won't sit well with some people. NIMBYs will (not necessarily the ones in LSE, just in general) probably use it as cannon fuel to protest against the construction of the building.

[thewaterman11]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Judging from the photos of what the skyline will potentially look like, it seems that the John Hancock will be blocked by the new tower. The John Hancock will probably still be visible as long as you go to the far side of Adler Planetarium, but that fact alone really won't sit well with some people. NIMBYs will (not necessarily the ones in LSE, just in general) probably use it as cannon fuel to protest against the construction of the building.

Just like how Hugh Hefner so passionately tried to stop JHC from blocking his southward views from the Palmolive Building back in '65.

If the developer has its financial act together, this tower will be built.

[ChiTownWonder]

at first the design looked so ugly to me, but now its growing to me. it would be cool to have such an advanced modern supertall to diversify Chicago's highrise architecture selection .

[marothisu]

New luxury apartments and condos continue to be built in Chicago. While job growth or whatever is not as big as other areas, it's obvious that there is a class of people moving into the city with more money or the same people making more money. The fact that a lot of the apartment buildings that are being built actually do lease at least 50% before they even open should say something.

I have a friend who works in sales and told me she notices something in the "air" in Chicago that was not there even 2 or 3 years ago. She said that many of her clients that were afraid to spend on anything just a few years ago are fine again. It's all very interesting, though larger swaths of lower and lower middle class moving out is not necessarily a very great thing either.

[Via Chicago]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I have a friend who works in sales and told me she notices something in the "air" in Chicago that was not there even 2 or 3 years ago. She said that many of her clients that were afraid to spend on anything just a few years ago are fine again. I

Its because humans have notoriously short memories. The peak of the last bubble felt no different.

[Skyguy_7]

^We may be due for a correction, but this is far from a "bubble." Things are picking up. The America train is just leaving the station!

At any rate, with a 90% stake, should we expect WANDA spelled out in 20 foot letters along the side facing the river? haaa

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

Its because humans have notoriously short memories. The peak of the last bubble felt no different.

I don't think we're in a bubble, but it seems like things are picking up. Regardless, it's harder for a regular person to actually buy a property now versus back then. So while to you it may feel no different, this time it may actually be backed by more real money than last time.

[Kenmore]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

Its because humans have notoriously short memories. The peak of the last bubble felt no different.

IDK, the last bubble reached pretty far down into the middle even lower middle classes...the current (boomlet?) is pretty much confined to the super-high end. Which I guess fits in nicely with the increasingly stratified makeup of the city and post-bailout recovery


As for this building, I'm coming around on the design but starting to question just how real the proposal is. It would be nice to hear some more official confirmation as opposed to regurgitations of a single foreign piece.

[wrab]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Same. I just don't like the very light-blue color and the odd massing.

Hopefully it will look better once its completed.

I expect the drool factor to increase exponentially once we have official renderings from Studio/Gang. The current rendering looks like PR - splash & color, but not much detail.

[Mr Downtown]

I think continuing to keep track of that record rather tarnishes the trophy, and I believe I've read that Jeanne Gang feels the same way.

[wrab]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I think continuing to keep track of that record rather tarnishes the trophy, and I believe I've read that Jeanne Gang feels the same way.

Agreed. Irresistible copy, but reductive.