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

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Dylan Dude

Why didn't you include Trump Tower? I think Trump Tower looks the best out of all 4 of Chicago's 1,100-1,200 footers

No, the Hancock is hands down the best supertall in Chicago. It's a radical, revolutionary building that set the bar for the Modern era of supertall construction. Pretty much everything since then has followed in it's mould.

It's also aesthetically perfect and philosophically pure from a design perspective. It's the perfect incarnation of structural expression and form follows function.

All you have to observe in a debate of Trump vs Hancock is that the JHC was so perfect that no one could find a better way to elevate cars into a podium (which is also seamlessly and perfectly handled unlike Trump) in the 40 years between the two. The JHC helix ramp was so perfect in 1969 that the Trump just copy and pasted it in 2009...

[Skyguy_7]

^ That is a great point. SOM had to look no further their own 40 year old design. Though I see it more as TT helix inspired by JHC, than copy/paste of course.

[Skyguy_7]

Regarding Vista’s “dark band” mechanical floors; it looks to me like that’s just black painted plywood and not the final louvers. Come to think of it, and without scrolling through a million [great] photos, I don’t recall seeing a single louver yet. Perhaps they’re having as much trouble with the louvers as they were with the glass system.

[pilsenarch]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Actually I'm pretty sure they didn't actually lose any SF and just increased the height of the building slightly. I think that accounts for the descrepancy between the 1150ish number we had originally heard and the final height just below 1,200 we wound up with. There was an engineering article posted a while ago that discussed how the blow thru wasn't in the original design until wind testing determined that they had to do something to resist the sway of such a narrow, slab like, structure. The same article also discussed the interesting unique linked double core of this building which has also been used as slight against this design. Turns out that unique sheer wall configuration was also a result of the massing of the structure and need to locate the core on either side of the street and not because of the frustums as was hypothosized by the anti-Gang contingent here on SSP.

Basically the conclusion of the article was that all the fancy cores, sheer walls, and dampering has nothing to do with the frustum form and everything to do with the extremely narrow, slab like, massing of the building which is basically outside of the architects control given the site constraints and the height of the building.

Yes, a lot of us read the same engineering article. You are correct, that the frustums had little or no direct effect at all on the structural engineering to prevent sway. However, the tower/frustum design and the goal of maintaining the smooth, 'crystal'-like gemstone effect, did have an effect in the sense that it eliminated the option of locating significant structure at the outer edges of the three towers (to prevent sway) vis a vis a 'tube'-like vertical cantilever (Sears) or even an exoskeleton that would have freed up the exterior of the building for increased views rather than relying on 4' thick concrete shear walls...

There are numerous structural solutions to a tower of this size and shape. In fact I have seen earlier designs from others for this exact program, client, and 3 tower design that employed radically different designs structurally. I am not trying to criticize the innovative structural solutions here, I think they did a remarkable job given the function-follows-form nature of the design...

[harryc]

Sept 23

[maru2501]

Originally Posted by donnie

From her raw skeleton to her graceful dress, what a pretty lady Vista turned out...

you have no frame of reference here donnie

[jc5680]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

Regarding Vista’s “dark band” mechanical floors; it looks to me like that’s just black painted plywood and not the final louvers. Come to think of it, and without scrolling through a million [great] photos, I don’t recall seeing a single louver yet. Perhaps they’re having as much trouble with the louvers as they were with the glass system.

I made a similar(hopeful) observation a few comments back—there are a number of good close up photos that show the black panels sitting recessed in the frames; and they all look to be solid. In particular, the awkwardness of the top segments where only half of the sides of two frustums have the panels, it looks much more likely to me that there is at the very least some sort of finishing detail missing. Best cast scenario is a louver system that has some tonal coherence with the window wall.

[cozy]

When viewing in person it is quite clear that the black panels are not plywood

If they were temporary, the crew wouldn't bother painting them (like the skip)

[Suburban Shadow]

Speaking of the skip.

Does anybody know when they will start bringing them down?

[THRILLHO]

Little detail I caught today, looks like Juan was here.



They've started putting up the framing for the screen on the blow through floor, looks MUCH better already.

[PittsburghPA]

I've said it a million times but wow this building is impressive in person.

https://i.imgur.com/Dle8R1e.jpg

[phanta721]

[lakeshoredrive]

Originally Posted by phanta721

I’d be so nervous to be on a balcony that high up lol

[cozy]

Originally Posted by lakeshoredrive

I’d be so nervous to be on a balcony that high up lol

whether it be 10 stories, or 100.. you're the same amount of dead I see what you mean though, I wouldn't exactly be leaning on the railing of that penthouse balcony.

You guys see that lonely black panel on the west side of the 71st floor? It is visible in phanta's pic, going to drive me nuts upon completion.

[vexxed82]

[feynman]

You're really good at this

[bnk]

Originally Posted by feynman

You're really good at this

Not many cities have a Nick U in a helicopter delivering awesome pics like this.

He is our own visit Chicago organization.


Hopefully the civic minds that spend money on these skyscraper porn pics use some of his talent and compensate him. Like Choose Chicago for example.


I'm sure its not cheap to fly around the city every few days to give us this view.

[harryc]

Oct 7

[lakeshoredrive]

The blow through floor looks really bad

[UPChicago]

^ extremely bad hope the screening makes it look a bit better