CHICAGO | The 78 Site

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by 2PRUROCKS!

I like the overall site design especially along the river. The connection to the east by the Metra tracks could be better but I understand the immense cost and challenge.

The stadium design isn't awful but this is an opportunity to do better. I think this fake warehouse/industrial aesthetic is the 2020's version of late 1990 to early 2000's POMO. I think this will be a lot like the United Center, bland and forgettable architecture that functions well.

I wish the design did more to relate to it's surroundings and take advantage of it's unique location by the river and skyline views with architecture that looked to to future instead of the past.

Here are some example of what I think are more promising designs:

https://www.gensler.com/projects/nor...concept-design

https://www.constructionspecifier.co...o-mls-stadium/

https://www.hok.com/news/2019-04/mls...tadium-design/

Agree with that overall assessment. I especially like the HOK (third) design concept in St. Louis that you listed.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by 2PRUROCKS!

I like the overall site design especially along the river. The connection to the east by the Metra tracks could be better but I understand the immense cost and challenge.

The stadium design isn't awful but this is an opportunity to do better. I think this fake warehouse/industrial aesthetic is the 2020's version of late 1990 to early 2000's POMO. I think this will be a lot like the United Center, bland and forgettable architecture that functions well.

I wish the design did more to relate to it's surroundings and take advantage of it's unique location by the river and skyline views with architecture that looked to to future instead of the past.

Here are some example of what I think are more promising designs:

https://www.gensler.com/projects/nor...concept-design

https://www.constructionspecifier.co...o-mls-stadium/

https://www.hok.com/news/2019-04/mls...tadium-design/

See, all three of these examples are superior to what the Fire is proposing.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by sentinel

See, all three of these examples are superior to what the Fire is proposing.

I fully disagree.

I'd much rather have "the firehouse" as currently proposed than any of those three.

But I'm HEAVILY biased. McCormick Lakeside is one of my favorite buildings. Any structure with a deeply cantilevered black truss roof is gonna steal my heart.

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I fully disagree.

I'd much rather have "the firehouse" as currently proposed than any of those three.

But I'm HEAVILY biased. McCormick Lakeside is one of my favorite buildings. Any structure with a deeply cantilevered black truss roof is gonna steal my heart.

Why should it resemble an existing structure? Especially when there’s no relationship, other than “a Chicago building resembling another Chicago building?”

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Why should it resemble an existing structure?

I never said anything about "should".

I was just expressing my opinion that I love the design of "the firehouse", and some of my reasoning behind it.

If you have a different opinion, that's ok.

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Animation posted to Gensler's Instagram

NICE!

now I love it even more!

[cloudbod]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

McCormick Lakeside is one of my favorite buildings. Any structure with a deeply cantilevered black truss roof is gonna steal my heart.

Yup, that's where I'm at with this too. I imagine everything about this plan will change and evolve (hopefully with a greater transit component, better connections, more open skyline view, etc) but I hope the aesthetic of the stadium doesn't change. Black trusses are Chicago-design incarnate-- powerful, economical, industrial, efficient, and intriguingly detailed.

Futuristic designs are often dependent on being kept really clean, shiny and white, which'll be really difficult at this site due to all the diesel rail and road particulate. But this design will only look better as it accumulates grime

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by sentinel

See, all three of these examples are superior to what the Fire is proposing.

I agree that those three proposals look better.... from a helicopter!

The First stadium you can walk up right next to it. North Carolinas looks pretty nice to drive around. And the one in Ohio certainly looks interesting. But why? Is the goal to make is interesting? That big curved facade isn't the building. It's something that's been hung on to the building. It looks like you need to climb like 80 steps to get into it. And I like the look of the St Louis one better. But it also looks like you need to climb up into it and then you can walk around it on an elevated plaza before you can enter.

If your goal is to keep people inside buying hot dogs until they have to trek to a parking garage, those three all seem pretty good. If you want to anchor an area, then I'll take the Fire's.

[JK47]

Originally Posted by sentinel

See, all three of these examples are superior to what the Fire is proposing.

No, they objectively aren't. For one, those are charitable renderings. The St. Louis one is significantly snazzier than what they actually built. Which looks fine, but it's basically exposed metal, a cantilevered roof, and concrete. Nothing to really WOW the observer. The St. Louis stadium is fine, solid, but not a statement piece and certainly not superior to the proposed Fire stadium.

[aaron38]

Originally Posted by sentinel

See, all three of these examples are superior to what the Fire is proposing.

https://www.gensler.com/projects/nor...concept-design
Not a building, it's a Cirq du Soleil show

https://www.constructionspecifier.co...o-mls-stadium/
Not a building, it's a birds nest on top of a podium

https://www.hok.com/news/2019-04/mls...tadium-design/
Not a building, it's a circus tent.

I'm not a fan of soccer, but why would I want it to look like the Fire play in a tent?

[r18tdi]

Animation posted to Gensler's Instagram

[Chi-Sky21]

Quit your woah is me on the design. It is not bad at all. Maybe a bit shortsighted on capacity, but if this is the catalyst for this entire area to develop and it looks like that then so what.

[sentinel]

I stand by my opinion, and no amount of bullying will change it.

[Sprinklemoore]

Originally Posted by sentinel

I stand by my opinion, and no amount of bullying will change it.

I agree. Even the design inspiration being a “warehouse” is weak sauce. Chicago has many gorgeous warehouses spanning every style from NeoGothic to the Egyptian Revival of the Reebie Bros fire storage. It’s just an excuse to do the bare minimum with brick and large window bays. Doesn’t look good from the river or up close. 🤷♂️

[ardecila]

Yeah that St Louis stadium is *excellent*. Part of it is context - it sits in a warehouse district of gorgeous old brick buildings, so they went clean and white to draw a contrast. They made the stadium permeable, with gates and peekaboo views to the pitch on all four sides. Even the loading dock was cleverly concealed underground, with an access ramp on the neighboring block so there really is no "bad side" or "back side". It's not Renzo Piano or BIG, but it's extremely thoughtful and elegant in its context.

For Chicago, I don't know why a self-proclaimed "capital of architecture" is going so conservative and making this look like a boring West Loop midrise. I respect Gensler's work, so I assume this direction comes from the client, maybe even Joe himself. A stadium should be a civic centerpiece and should have bold, dynamic architecture - it should not look like a generic infill building.

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

But I'm HEAVILY biased. McCormick Lakeside is one of my favorite buildings. Any structure with a deeply cantilevered black truss roof is gonna steal my heart.

Funny you bring that up - a stadium in the style of Lakeside Center would be badass. But that's not really what we're getting. Murphy/Jahn didn't load up their beautiful convention center with red brick to pretend it's 100 years old. When they did use brick, it was a beautiful black to complement the steelwork and kept extremely minimalist.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Yeah that St Louis stadium is *excellent*.

I just spent several minutes Google streetviewing around that STL stadium.

It's by no means a bad looking stadium.

But I absolutely love all the imagery we're seeing from The Firehouse proposal WAY more. It looks so much more substantial and grand and permanent.

Plus, that roof.......

[Jstange059]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

I just spent several minutes Google streetviewing around that STL stadium.

It's by no means a bad looking stadium.

Originally Posted by ardecila

Yeah that St Louis stadium is *excellent*. Part of it is context - it sits in a warehouse district of gorgeous old brick buildings, so they went clean and white to draw a contrast. They made the stadium permeable, with gates and peekaboo views to the pitch on all four sides. Even the loading dock was cleverly concealed underground, with an access ramp on the neighboring block so there really is no "bad side" or "back side". It's not Renzo Piano or BIG, but it's extremely thoughtful and elegant in its context.

I actually currently live in St. Louis and have visited the stadium several times, and it really is quite nice in person. A main objective of the design was to make the stadium feel open and connected to the surroundings. This is achieved by having the canopy all be held up by thin columns, having all of the corners of the building be open and without the seating risers, having all the entrances being thin metal gateways rather than proper doors, and having the field be buried so it feels like you can nearly see the field from the outside of the stadium. It’s really works quite incredibly with it’s urban context

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by ardecila

For Chicago, I don't know why a self-proclaimed "capital of architecture" is going so conservative and making this look like a boring West Loop midrise. I respect Gensler's work, so I assume this direction comes from the client, maybe even Joe himself. A stadium should be a civic centerpiece and should have bold, dynamic architecture - it should not look like a generic infill building.

Wholeheartedly agree. The design is simply a disappointment when appropriately high standards are applied. It reads as if a guiding part of the remit here was 'Be Inoffensive'. Typically not the ticket to an important piece of design, which this is not.

[swipyfox]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Wholeheartedly agree. The design is simply a disappointment when appropriately high standards are applied. It reads as if a guiding part of the remit here was 'Be Inoffensive'. Typically not the ticket to an important piece of design, which this is not.

We should be grateful developers are even interested in building in this area, lets not do too much

[nomarandlee]

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/..._content=alert


Edward Keegan: Chicago Fire stadium plans cry out for a bit of quirkiness

As shown, the new stadium is simple, unimposing and not unattractive. The developers explain that Gensler has designed in the “‘Chicago School’ of architecture,” but it’s more of a generalized warehouse aesthetic that you might find at a contemporary shopping mall anywhere in America. It cries out for a bit of quirkiness that would make the structure more distinctive and genuinely grounded in Chicago’s unique architectural culture.....

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[VKChaz]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

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I thought big box retailer, but shopping mall is probably closer. Or one of a collection of buildings in a shopping plaza with each sporting its own reproduction asthetic. Some of that stems from the walls/flatness and boxiness. But a food court could be behind those windows...