CHICAGO | Aqua | 858 FT / 262 M | 87 FLOORS - Page 233

andydie · #**4641** Posted **Mar 16, 2009, 4:44 PM**

great detailed update Early

And the base isnt ugly at all. I like it

brian_b · #**4642** Posted **Mar 16, 2009, 6:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Yeah, I don't see what the problem you guys have with a CVS here.

...

Seriously, lighten up people...

The only reason to complain is if other retailers were trying to get that space and CVS was chosen instead.

Be glad it's not an empty storefront.

Jibba · #**4643** Posted **Mar 16, 2009, 7:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by brian_b

The only reason to complain is if other retailers were trying to get that space and CVS was chosen instead.

Be glad it's not an empty storefront.

They don't get chosen, per se; they utilize economies of scale and leverage their gigantic size as a corporation to out-bid everyone else interested in the same retail space. Getting "chosen" really isn't an issue for them; if they want into a retail space, they will get there, just like when they bulldoze and pave over 150 years of hard-won character and history to put up suburban-style bullshit on every major thoroughfare in the city simply because they want to be there. So, from a business perspective, I can't argue with the rationale for a space there. There's obviously a demand for it worth exploiting. My gripe is that they are overtaking (or rather, have already overtaken) the city with their damn stores, and having yet another one isn't going to please me.

This wasn't a personal attack on you at all, brian_b. I'm just following up you and whoever else with my own bitter opinion of the matter. Sorry if all this sounds contentious, but I'm crabby today. I took a long walk around Uptown/Andersonville, and I couldn't walk more than 500 feet without encountering yet more neighborhood-destroying strips of suburban garbage--it put me in a bad mood. And there I go, all off-topic and what not.

sammyg · #**4644** Posted **Mar 16, 2009, 8:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jibba

This wasn't a personal attack on you at all, brian_b. I'm just following up you and whoever else with my own bitter opinion of the matter. Sorry if all this sounds contentious, but I'm crabby today. I took a long walk around Uptown/Andersonville, and I couldn't walk more than 500 feet without encountering yet more neighborhood-destroying strips of suburban garbage--it put me in a bad mood. And there I go, all off-topic and what not.

I hear you - the ugly little strip malls scattered around the far north side kill me but this CVS seems to be well-integrated, and it's not like Lakeshore East really has any existing local retail to kill off. Maybe it's a good step forward for CVS and can be used as a counter-example when chain stores try to put up cookie-cutter locations elsewhere in the city.

EarlyBuyer · #**4645** Posted **Mar 17, 2009, 12:17 AM**

Photos taken by EarlyBuyer 3/16/09

harryc · #**4646** Posted **Mar 17, 2009, 12:20 AM**

Aqua's crane is on the R (Sourth) side of the tracks at the end.

California sta. on the Green line

Clark st. bridge

Panasonic DMZ TZ4 - Picasa - Autostitch - Photomatix HDR

EarlyBuyer · #**4647** Posted **Mar 17, 2009, 12:42 AM**

Photos taken by EarlyBuyer 3/16/09

EarlyBuyer · #**4648** Posted **Mar 17, 2009, 12:47 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by harryc

Aqua's crane is on the R (Sourth) side of the tracks at the end.

California sta. on the Green line

Panasonic DMZ TZ4 - Picasa - Autostitch - Photomatix HDR

Beautiful shot harry!

ambient · #**4649** Posted **Mar 17, 2009, 10:51 PM**

About ten minutes ago:

ambient · #**4650** Posted **Mar 17, 2009, 11:44 PM**

3/17/09 at 6:38pm

denizen467 · #**4651** Posted **Mar 18, 2009, 5:38 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by EarlyBuyer

Looks amazing.

But the balcony railings had better extend to the extremities of all those most-protruding slabs. Otherwise the basic design concept of "view corridors", with the drama of Jeanne and all those strings flinging every which way, becomes a sham.

wrab · #**4652** Posted **Mar 18, 2009, 12:19 PM**

^ They will if they follow the bottom-left-hand protrusion in that pic.

BTW, the pics on this page are all fantastic.

andydie · #**4653** Posted **Mar 18, 2009, 3:08 PM**

it will be interesting to see how it will look once all railings are installed and the appartments are occupied and the balconies in use. I have a lil doubt that it still will look as flawless as it looks now.

george · #**4654** Posted **Mar 19, 2009, 3:26 AM**

^Amazing pics EarlyBuyer, great detail.^

wrab · #**4655** Posted **Mar 19, 2009, 3:38 PM**

Thank you George for those pics.

Ambient, your pic in post #4650, with Mather in the foreground, really captures that cluster nicely.

-----

Early Buyer, your excellent last set of balcony shots are a good illustration to a point I've been meaning to make about Gang's mother. Her mother was a seamstress. You see that influence creep into all of Gang's projects, usually and especially in how she thinks about skins, in how she folds them, and in how she handles texture.

Here at Aqua, and especially in your balcony shots, I see in part the fabric stencils & pattern cut-outs that I recall my mother and grandmother using to make dresses. These were pattern kits that you could buy off-shelve.

The influence of Gang's mother on her professional sensibilities hasn't gotten a lot of critical attention to date, and probably should.

jc5680 · #**4656** Posted **Mar 19, 2009, 6:35 PM**

3.19

ethereal_reality · #**4657** Posted **Mar 19, 2009, 6:45 PM**

^^^Wow

The photos on this page are extraordinary. Great work guys.

EarlyBuyer · #**4658** Posted **Mar 20, 2009, 12:29 AM**

Even in Recession, Good Design = Good Business
Midwest Construction

"...The design might be having an impact on sales. Joel Carlins, the co-CEO of Magellan Development Group LLC, the developer of Aqua, says that less than 10 of the 264 condo units have yet to be sold.

“We’ve had a lot of international press on it,” Carlins adds. Indeed, a German film crew came to Chicago to do a piece on Gang. About 5% of the buyers are from Europe or Asia.

A cynic might scoff. It is natural for a condominium tower in downtown Chicago to be well designed given that some of the units cost in the millions of dollars. The well-heeled clients demand culture, taste and sophistication.

True, but there are other upscale condominiums in Chicago. Some of these are struggling, such as the 92-story Trump International Hotel and Tower..."

And now for the longest URL ever: http://midwest.construction.com/opinions...Script=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

EarlyBuyer · #**4659** Posted **Mar 20, 2009, 12:36 AM**

Topping off photos by McShane Fleming Studios/McHugh Construction

viewguysf · #**4660** Posted **Mar 20, 2009, 6:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gvpeto

Call me a hater, but i had higher hopes for this one. It's just too....Marina-City. Thats been done...I was hoping for something super-sexy and glassy. *sigh*

It's amazing to look back at some of the negative quotes from 2006 when this project was announced because it's obvious now that Chicago is so fortunate to have this fantastic building! There's nothing like it.