Chicago Architecture Blog

Developers Tells Economy To STFU; Will Build Lake Street Tower Anyway

Editor — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:13:21 +0000

For the first time in 14 years, an office tower is going up in Chicago without already having a raft of tenants lined up. Crain’s Chicago Business reports that Hines, Ivanhoe Cambridge, and Chicago’s own Larry Levy are moving forward with their new Fulton River District skyscraper at 444 West Lake Street called River Point. [...]

Nearby Development Is No Salvation For Ogden Plaza

Editor — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:30:19 +0000

A strip of urine-soaked concrete, and scraggly trees in the heart of Streeterville will remain closer to urban blight than urban paradise for the foreseeable future. Ogden Plaza was reconstructed as recently as 1990 in a design by Lohan Associates. Its centerpiece is a giant clock sculpture by Vito Acconci that counter-intuitively does not function [...]

Does It Have To Feed A Meter?

Editor — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:14:16 +0000

In the decade I’ve been writing this blog, posting hundreds of “Slices of Life” from all corners of the city, I have never seen this before. It’s The Spirit — one of the big ships that takes tourists on dinner cruises from Navy Pier. But that’s not Navy Pier. Today it tied up next to the [...]

NATO Flags Displace American Flags on Michigan Avenue Bridge

Editor — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:50:04 +0000

As the city of Chicago gets all ready for its appointment with the global spotlight, we’ve noticed a number of changes around town. In addition to the usual barricades being stockpiled in strategic locations, and the disappearance of our Big Mouth solar trash compactors, and the significant increase in the number of police officers downtown, [...]

Neighbors Want Taller Skyscrapers in Streeterville

Editor — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:27:41 +0000

The new apartment and hotel tower planned for 435 North Park Drive in Streeterville is evolving, and moving closer to reality. Responding to the concerns of neighbors, changes have been made to the as-yet unbranded hotel inside the as-yet unnamed building. For the most part, those changes are minor, and perhaps reflecting the neighborhood’s growing [...]

Union Station Hosts National Train Day 2012

Editor — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:01:37 +0000

One of Chicago’s most beautiful, most historic, and busiest buildings hosted a major event earlier today. National Train Day is an annual open house event held at Amtrak’s big stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia. It gives train lovers a chance to walk around trains they might never have the opportunity to [...]

Week Links: May 11, 2012

Editor — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:31:12 +0000

If you’ve spent any time on the south end of Chicago’s financial district, you’ve probably been asked by someone for directions to the Metra LaSalle Street Station. Grid Chicago has a good write-up about why the LaSalle Street Station is so hard to find. Lanvin is getting ready for its Chicago debut. Our Gold Coast [...]

Slice of Life: Chicago Fire Boat

Editor — Fri, 11 May 2012 14:46:20 +0000

What does a Chicago Fire Department boat look like racing to the scene of an emergency? Pretty much the same as a Chicago Fire Department car racing to the scene of an emergency. It turns out that this fireboat is equipped with the same lights an siren as you’d find on a regular fire truck. [...]

Dismembering Marilyn

Editor — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:24:22 +0000

“It’s like that scene on the beach in Planet of the Apes. Except it’s Marilyn Monroe instead of the Statue of Liberty. And it’s her giant fiberglass underpants in the background instead of Dr. Zaius.” If you didn’t swing by Pioneer Court in the last year or so, you missed your chance to see the [...]

Wolf Point’s New Skyscrapers to Change Chicago’s Skyline

Editor — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:23:59 +0000

Twenty-four hours ago, we thought we’d be writing about the latest on 435 North Park Drive, the new mixed use hotel-on-the-bottom, apartments-on-top skyscraper sundae with a bar for a cherry on the roof. But just an hour before the DRW/SCB/SORE alphabet soup was supposed to boil over in Streeterville, Alderman Brendan Reilly dropped a bombshell [...]

Slice of Life: Michigan Avenue Watercolors

Editor — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:41:24 +0000

Our Gold Coast spy was a little out of her zone when she took this photo and sent it to us. It shows a man on East Upper Wacker Drive, painting the Michigan Avenue bridge, the Wrigley Building (400 North Michigan Avenue), and its neighbors. Hopefully he’s using oils and not watercolors, because at the [...]

SAIC Opens Neiman Center in Sharp Building on Wabash

Editor — Mon, 07 May 2012 12:57:45 +0000

If you’ve been down Wabash Avenue in The Loop in the last year or so, you’ve noticed the work being done at number 37. The building is the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Sharp Building, and has been undergoing a renovation both inside and out. Amid much anticipation, today, the building re-opens with [...]

Week Links: May 4, 2012

Editor — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:29:47 +0000

We haven’t heard much lately about the new hotel that’s going into the former One IBM Plaza building at 330 North Wabash Avenue. The last update we saw was January in the Sun-Times. We know they’ve been busy working on the project because we can see the construction through the windows at night. Now [...]

Coast Crane Jumps the Swissôtel

Editor — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:26:39 +0000

While you were enjoying Sunday doing whatever it is that you do on Sundays, the team at The Coast (345 East Wacker Drive) was busy raising its tower crane. One of our Lakeshore East spies sent us a picture and you can see the men hard at work in the photo above. The crane is [...]

Iconic Santa Fe Sign May Change (Update 1)

Editor — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:34:39 +0000

If there’s one thing Chicago preservationists hate, it’s signs on downtown buildings. The only thing they hate more is when existing signs on downtown buildings are changed. That’s the prospect being faced at the Santa Fe Building (224 South Michigan Avenue), formerly known as the Railway Exchange Building. Motorola is moving a hundred employees from [...]

Inside Solomon Cordwell Buenz

Editor — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:16:46 +0000

Another Chicago architecture firm has invited us into its offices to give us a look behind the minds that shape our city. Solomon Cordwell Buenz is among the city’s more prolific firms. If you’ve been to downtown Chicago, you’ve seen an SCB building. They’re everywhere. From slender skyscrapers like 50 East Chestnut Street to shorter, [...]

Week Links: April 27, 2012

Editor — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 21:29:25 +0000

It’s been a pretty quiet week. Anyone else ready for Summer? Here’s a few notes: We hear the new Burberry Flagship Store (633 North Michigan Avenue) will open November 11, 2012. There’s a plan to turn the old factory/warehouse at 113 North Green Street in the West Loop into a boutique hotel called SoHo Hotel [...]

Slice of Life: Streeterville Skyline

Editor — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:46:47 +0000

What was once a wasteland of warehouses, factories, and canals has quickly become one of the most densely populated skyscraper forests in the region. Streeterville has gone from being a ship captain’s real estate scam into one of Chicago’s best skylines.

Kemper Sign Lighting Up The Chicago River

Editor — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:52:48 +0000

Not to be outdone by our Gold Coast Spy sending in a photo of the new Tommy Bahama Store being constructed inside the Ritz-Carlton Residences (664 North Michigan Avenue), one of our Loop Spies e-mailed this picture of the new Kemper sign all lit up at night. The Kemper sign replaces the Unitrin sign that [...]

Spare a Warehouse?

Editor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:45:45 +0000

We received an e-mail from a student filmmaker last week looking for a warehouse to do some filmmaking. Since this blog has more readers than most Illinois towns have residents, I thought I’d post his plea here and maybe someone will be able to help him out. My name is Justin Newcomb, I’m a senior [...]

The Ritz is Puttin’ on Tommy Bahama

Editor — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:23:11 +0000

Our Gold Coast spy sent in this picture of the new Tommy Bahama store going in on the ground floor of the Ritz-Carlton Residences (664 North Michigan Avenue). The skyscraper is pretty much done, and hopefully the retail space will all fill up quickly.

Video: Turning Marina City Green

Editor — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:23:21 +0000

The quickest way to turn a marina green is to let the water stagnate. But it’s not stagnation, it’s progress that has one proposal turning Chicago’s Marina City (300 North State Street) green. Marina City Online tipped us off to the International Algae Competition — a global contest to come up with ways of using [...]

Slice of Life: McDonald’s Framed

Editor — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 14:37:54 +0000

The boom of a cement squirting truck working on the Optima Tower (200 East Illinois Street) frames the not-quite-done-yet facade of Chicago’s new 14-story Ronald McDonald House. Previous coverage: Status Update: Ronald McDonald House The House That Ronald’s Building

New Kemper Sign Adorns Former Unitrin Building on Wacker Drive

Editor — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:43:01 +0000

Sunday morning, a helicopter crane lifted the new Kemper logo and sign to the top of the former Unitrin Building. Here are some pictures.

Week Links: April 20, 2012

Editor — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 19:21:39 +0000

Loop North News notes a strange kind of theft — Apparently some people walked into Marina City (300 North State Street) and stole fuses from a storage space in a hallway. The haul was worth $300. I’ve heard of people stealing copper wire and manhole covers for their scrap value, but this is a new [...]