Saturday, October 27, 2012

Chicago Crain Communications Building - former Smurfit-Stone

The Crain Communications Building - Also known as: Diamond Building
Formerly: 150 North Michigan Avenue
Formerly: Smurfit-Stone Building
Formerly: Stone Container Building
Formerly: Associates Center

The Smurfit-Stone Building (now Crain Communications Building) in Chicago, Illinois is one of a kind. Some may argue it is the most unique building to distinguish the Chicago skyline from others. Finished in 1984, the 582 foot (177 m) skyscraper at the northwest corner of Grant and Millennium Parks, nestled between the classical columns of the Chicago Cultural Center, the cone-topped Two Prudential, and the plain boxes of Prudential headquarters and the AON Center, has a slanted top that carves through the top 10 of its 41 floors. The official count of 41 floors does not include 5 levels of unused space in the narrowest portion at the top of the diamond. Some wags have pointed out that the Crain Communications Building, with its diamond-shape top, looks like a skyscraper slashed with a knife.

This building is one of Chicago's signature structures, what it lacks in height, it more than makes up for in style. Its gleaming white exterior is accented with dark pinstripes of windows. Its orientation embraces Lake Michigan just a few hundred yards away, while at the same time it's characteristic slanted roof mimics, mocks, or yearns to be part of the sailboat crowd in the nearby Chicago Harbor.

The architects didn't merely take a square and cut a wedge out of it like a children's block. They cut it on an angle, using a simple subtractive motion to create a diamond shape in the sky. Closer examination reveals that it isn't even a simple diamond, but rather two nearly identical triangles, but that is a detail lost on most observers. What they delight in is the notion that the building is still not done inventing itself. That it is growing with a leading angle like a massive lily sprouting on the lakeshore. Others fail to see the beauty and whimsy intrinsic to this building. Instead, they see it as an affront to the other classic Chicago architecture on Michigan Avenue.

But if not for those buildings that stand out, would not the Avenue's marble cliff seem that much more ordinary and under appreciated?

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Old iron fire escape Chicago IL

In Chicago (a city that has a special history with fire), people are so used to seeing the old iron fire escapes on the outside of buildings built anywhere from the late 1880s up thru the 1930s that they just blend into the rest of the noise.

Every facet of the urban landscape has a story to tell; so much so that we tend to take for granted much of our surroundings. Have you ever stopped to consider the history or unique composition of a fire escape? Within a year after the first patent for a fire escape was issued in 1887 (to Ms. Anna Connelly), the U.S. Patent Office had issued patents for 1,100 competitive designs and unique styles, encompassing many different forms and every conceivable material. The real beauty of Ms. Connelly's invention was that these inexpensive metal structures could be attached to both new and existing buildings.

Does the complex in which you live or work have a fire escape? Would you use this historical architectural curiosity if there was a fire in your building? If well maintained, a fire escape is still a life saving structure. Unfortunately, it's often difficult to tell if a fire escape is safe to use or not.

Residential buildings tend to have an additional, unique set of problems when it comes to their old emergency escapes. It seems that they get a lot of use ... just not for their intended purpose. City inspectors and fire escape maintenance companies commonly report the passages being exploited as urban gardens, personal balconies, clothes dryers, and smoking lounges.

Hanging there on buildings all over The Loop these Escheresque, geometrical structures, add yet another distinctive element to the facades of Chicago's historic buildings. Today, with the advent of new fangled construction materials and redundant fire prevention systems, Chicago's updated building codes have done away with the fire escape as a component of new construction, going so far as to prohibit them in all but very, very specific circumstances.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Chicago EL Train

The Loop (historically Union Loop, or commonly Loop) is the two mile circuit of elevated railroad that forms the hub of the 'L' rapid transit system in Chicago, Illinois. The surrounding area is also known as The Loop community area.

Though the distinction of operating the first elevated railway does not belong to Chicago (New York city's, opening in 1867, has that honor), Chicago did try many times to create such a service. With the first attempt in 1869, over 70 companies were created for the purpose of starting an elevated rail system between 1872 and 1900. The accolade of opening Chicago's first rapid transit line went to the Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad Company. It opened on 12 October 1897, providing direct service into the center of Chicago. By 1909, the city of Chicago enjoyed one of the best rapid transit systems in the world, providing reliable unified service to outlying communities and neighborhoods then in existence.

At the turn of the century the old elevated structures, some more than a century old, were being rebuilt, ensuring their survival well into the twenty-first century.

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Carbide and Carbon and Wrigley Building - Two Chicago Classics

Left middle: The Carbide & Carbon Building, 40 floors, 503 feet / 153 meter, at the southwest corner of Michigan and Water, completed in 1929, was built in Art Deco style as an office tower. Today it is the Hard Rock Hotel.

This it is not your typical Art Deco Chicago skyscraper.
Most of Chicago's Art Deco architecture is clad in light gray Bedford limestone. The Carbon & Carbide Building, however, has a unique array of colors covering its facade. Composed of a polished black granite base and a tower covered in deep green terra cotta, it stands out as a one-of-a-kind landmark on the Michigan Avenue skyline. Extensive use of gold leaf is another highlight of the building's features. It's not just on the edges of the building - it virtually coats the spire and drapes itself across the shoulders and setbacks of the upper levels. But the glitter is not reserved for those in the stratosphere - the gold accents continue all the way down to street level. All that glitz isn't an accident. There is an urban legend which states that the shape and color of the building were inspired by a champagne bottle. It's not that hard to imagine it as a green curvy bottle with bubbly foaming from the top and dripping down the sides.
With its celebratory origins, the Carbide & Carbon Building is a truly authentic building that simply refuses to be ignored.

Left back: The biggest, brightest jewel in Chicago's architectural crown belongs not to some glass and steel skyscraper, but to an historic office building with wedding cake flair and a clock tower. The Wrigley Building, completed in 1921, is actually two buildings joined by a 14th floor skywalk and a street-level arcade. Its gleaming white facade is an icon of the city, even when the quarter million terra cotta tiles are lit in different colors by banks of floodlights.
The shape of the lot the Wrigley building is on is quite an advantage. The space is an obtuse triangle with two sides facing south and southeast. This gives the building maximum exposure to pedestrian, vehicular, and boat traffic. The remaining side faces into the Trump International Hotel and Tower, which was designed to reflect the Wrigley Building's beauty and acknowledge its presence through setbacks that keep Trump from crowding this beloved edifice.

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Chicago Theatre - This theater exudes class

The Chicago Theatre on State Street is a classic Chicago landmark. This beautiful, historic French Baroque building is in very good shape. Its prominent lit-up sign and postcard-worthy facade with the iconic Marquee as well as its wonderfully elegant interior: The word "Historic" doesn't even begin to cover this place!

It's hard to believe that this gorgeous old theater started its life as a movie palace, and that famous artist such as Benny Goodman and Frank Sinatra performed here - between movies! Stepping into the Chicago theater, you really feel the history of the place. The grand staircase, the vaulting ceiling, stained glass windows, ornate columns, the chandelier scream Paris, and the theater itself, ornate, with gold walls, red velvet curtains and scenes from mythology painted at the tops of the walls - they all send you back in time. The word that comes to mind when you walk in the spacious, well-finished entryway and then take a seat in the theatre in your plush chair is.. class.

I can understand how places like this helped people make it through the Depression!

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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Chicago State Street - That great street

State Street is a large south-north street in Chicago, Illinois, USA and its south suburbs. At turn of the 19th to the 20th century a tourist said about it: "You take you life in your hands when you attempt crossing State Street with its endless stream of rattling wagons and clanging trolley cars. New York does not for a moment compare with Chicago in the roar and bustle and bewilderment of its street life." Pedestrians, street cars, and horse-drawn carts and carriages all shared the road in this early 20th century review of "State Street, that great street." Since then, the historic corridor has maintained its reputation as one of Chicago's most visited streets.

State Street was, and continues to be, one of the main avenues of traffic and commerce in the center of Chicago's central business district, the Loop. Recognized as Chicago's original "Main Street", State Street went through extensive renovations in the mid-1990s that spurred a renewed interest in business, real estate, entertainment and tourism in the area. State Street became a shopping destination and is referred to in the song "Chicago," sung by Frank Sinatra where Frank refers it to "State Street, that great street."

The historic Chicago Theatre is also located on State Street. It was lit by Commercial Light Company in 1958, making it - according to the Chicago Tribune - the brightest thoroughfare in the world.

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Monday, October 15, 2012

Chicago - Goodman Theatre

The Goodman Theatre, recipient of a Special Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, is a leader in the American theater and internationally renowned for its artists, productions and educational programs. The theater was established in July 1922, by a gift of $250,000 from William and Erna Goodman to the Art Institute of Chicago for the purpose of building a theater to memorialize their son, Kenneth Sawyer Goodman. Before his death at the age of 35 in the influenza epidemic of 1918, Kenneth Sawyer Goodman had written, published and produced a number of plays in non-commercial productions in Chicago, and had expressed his vision of an ideal theater, one that would combine professional training with the highest possible performance standards. The new theater, encompassing a drama school and a professional acting company, opened its doors on October 20, 1925. In the mid-1980s, concerned about the adequacy of its aging theater behind the Art Institute, the Goodman began to explore the possibility of a new facility. In the early 90's, the idea of the North Loop Theatre District was born, and the new Goodman Theatre at the corner of Randolph and N. Dearborn opened in December, 2000. After 75 years of ups, downs, highs, and lows, the Goodman had entered the 21st century, and began writing a new chapter in its formidable history.

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Goodman Memorial Theatre Chicago

When you want to see the next big thing, see it in Chicago. The city boasts five Tony award-winning regional theatre companies - more than any other city in the nation. And with more than 200 theater companies delivering everything from blockbuster hits to edgy improv skits, your entertainment options are endless. The Goodman is the top dog of the Chicago theater scene. By dedicating itself to three guiding principles - quality, diversity and community - Goodman Theatre seeks to be the premier cultural organization in Chicago, providing productions and programs that make an essential contribution to the quality of life in the city. It has a staff of more than 300 trained and certified artists and offers fresh, interesting plays that are often brimming with social commentary. The Goodman in the heart of Chicago is a real progressive theater, mainstream enough to attract the crowds but innovative enough to make it amazingly diverse and interesting.

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Sunday, October 14, 2012

The Loneliness of the Skyscraper Window Cleaner

(This is Three First National Plaza, Chicago, Il, - 57 floors, Height: 767 feet / 234 meter, built 1981) The pay is good, you get great views of the city and constant challenges. If this sounds like your dream job, you should either become a Wall Street big shot or - a far riskier option - a skyscraper window washer. High-rise and skyscraper window cleaners work on high rise buildings, dangling outside via ropes and using abseiling techniques to control their rate of descent. It's a good life. Lonely. But you see people, even if you don't speak to them. Gazing in on men and women working, talking, laughing, living, a window washer remaines always separated from them by those hundreds of window panes, suspended in his own quiet, windy limbo. Below, toy-like cars and tiny figures are waving a crazy pattern. This is as high as you can get without flying.

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Friday, October 12, 2012

Chicago - Look towards the sky

Hardly a block can be walked downtown Chicago without spying an architectural gem.

Left middle: Three First National Plaza - 57 floors, Height: 767 feet / 234 meters, built 1981
This building, located in the center of Chicago's business and financial community, reflects the style of the Chicago School of architecture. It was intentionally built shorter than the JPMorgan Chase Tower accross the street to preserve the views from the boardrooms at the top of that building. The 1.4 million-square-foot faceted tower is clad in Carnelian granite and tinted glass, making a significant impact upon Chicago's skyline. This sawtoothed tower rises from a nine storey glass atrium which also incorporates an eleven storey tower on the east end of the plaza. A skywalk connects this structure over Madison avenue to the Chase Tower.

Right: Chase Tower (aka First National Bank Building), Height 850.01 ft, 60 Floors above ground, built from 1966 to 1969, is one of the city's famous buildings. It replaced six older skyscrapers. The old First National Bank Building remained standing until Chase Bank moved into this building, then was torn down to build the plaza.
The building sweeps from a 200-foot wide base to 95 feet at the top. Despite its almost brutalist exterior, the tower exudes a sleek elegance.
U.S. President Barack Obama met his wife Michelle in this building in 1989 when both worked for the law firm Sidley & Austin.

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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Chicago - Looking south from LaSalle Street

Middle left (small): Chicago Board Of Trade or "CBOT"

Since 1930 the Chicago Board of Trade has been housed in this 605 foot building. It is building is designed in art deco style and it's the tallest art deco building in the world outside of New York. The 32-foot tall, 6500 pound Roman goddess Ceres, goddess of grain, on top of the building holds a bag of corn in her right hand and a sheaf of wheat in her left. The statue is faceless, because at the time it was thought that the building was so tall that no one would see her face anyhow. Her blank face and classical gown show the ultimate degree of Art Moderne streamlining. Now, the building is surrounded by other skyscrapers in the busy downtown loop district.

Right: 190 South LaSalle
190 South LaSalle (built 1987, 573 feet, 40 floors) with its beige exterior and gabled roof, appears to be a very tall ch�au complete with small round windows in the gables and arched one-story windows capping the vertical window elements, unifying them into a single form. The building's gabled roof was inspired by a now demolished Masonic Temple from 1892. Entering through the building's lobby will awe you. 40 ft coffered ceiling covered in gold leaf (even the elevator ceilings), walls and floor entirely made of marble.

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Tuesday, October 09, 2012

Chicago Harbor Light

Three main lighthouses have stood watch over Chicago Harbor as the city has grown from a small military outpost to the third-largest city in the United States. The Chicago Harbor Lighthouse, also called the Chicago Breakwater Light, is the only surviving lighthouse in Chicago and one of only two remaining in Illinois. Built in 1893, the Lighthouse reflects the proud heritage of Chicago and the pivotal role the city played in US maritime history, connecting the Great Lakes to the East Coast and ultimately to the Gulf Coast. The 48-foot-high lighthouse played such a significant role in the development of Chicago that it is commemorated in a relief sculpture, entitled "The Spirit of the Waters," located near the LaSalle Street entrance of Chicago's City Hall.

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Sunday, October 07, 2012

Chicago - One South Wacker and Hyatt Center

Left: One South Wacker Drive Building (SunGard)

One South Wacker, built from 1979 to 1982, 550 ft tall, 40 floors, has a very unique design. The building's form recalls the spirit of a gothic cathedral, with buttress-like setbacks which allow sunlight to penetrate into this bustling corner of the Loop.

With its all-glass curtain wall in three colors: black, silver and pink. it is one of Chicago's most unusual skyscrapers. The lobby connects Wacker Drive and Madison Street and is unusual for its dark black color.

The many facets of this post-modern building makes it shine in the light. From the ground, its angles create the appearance of a massive mountain of glass and steel looming overhead.

Right: Hyatt Center 71 South Wacker Drive

The Hyatt Center, built from 2002 - 2004, 679 feet/207 meters tall, 48 Stories, was the first skyscraper built in Chicago after 9/11. The skyscraper rises from amid an overgrown forest of skyscrapers to spread light through a part of Chicago that previously seemed in perpetual shadow.

The building takes the form of a smooth oval with indentations at its two most acute points. Those indentations seem to be the silvery skin of this tower peeling back to reveal the solid structure underneath. It is constructed around a core which bears much of the weight of the larger building, allowing large column-free spaces to extend outward from the center toward the windows. In some places, that run is as much as 45 feet in length, allowing great versatility in building out offices.

But it's that silvery skin that is the building's most valuable asset to people who don't have the privilege of working inside the tower. It sets it apart from many of its older, darker neighbors.

Because the Hyatt Center is located on a very tight space along South Wacker Drive it casts mighty shadows on the streets below. But in some measure it makes up for that by reflecting an incredible amount of sunlight on the rest of the city. Even from afar, the building dazzles. Its sleek stainless-steel-and-glass walls suggest a very tall ship cruising gracefully through space.

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Saturday, October 06, 2012

Chicago - A Sophisticated Finance Hub

Chicago, Illinois

Left - The ABN AMRO Plaza Technology Center: This sharp angular highrise along the Kennedy Expressway has a bold design that includes greenish tinted glass. The appearance of this bank's office building seems to change constantly when you walk around it. This is a pleasing result of the dynamic form of this sleek tower.
Adding new dimension to the Chicago skyline, the Phase One tower of the ABN AMRO Plaza was completed in early 2004. Read through a list of this 1.3-million-square-foot building's features and it sounds more like a letter to Santa than a realizable development. Reliability. Flexibility. Energy efficiency. It's a building goal often aspired to and seldom achieved. However, the ABN AMRO Plaza is proof that it can be done. ABN AMRO Plaza is a facility built with the future in mind.

Right - The Citigroup Center (formerly: Citicorp Center / Northwestern Atrium): The Citigroup Center is a 42 story, 588-foot (179m) skyscraper at 500 W. Madison, designed in a late modernist style. Built in 1987, it is the tallest all-glass building in Chicago.
Though some believe the shape of the building is reminiscent of a cash register to represent its largest tenant, it is actually intended to look like a waterfall to help link it to the nearby Chicago River. Part of the reason for the spread at the bottom of the building is to incorporate a shopping mall and the Ogilvie Transportation Center, a busy suburban commuter railroad station.

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