Chicago - Architecture & Cityscape: 2007

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Citicorp Center

This is Northwestern Atrium Center /Citicorp Center ...
completed in 1987 ...
designed by the architectural firm Murphy/Jahn ...

This 42 story, 588-foot tall glass-&-steel structure ...

Click on the image for enlarged view ...

The first two floors house a major commuter railroad station serving the north and west suburbs.
- The north and south façades resemble a waterfall with cascading curves of blue glass. The architect used similar forms on the interior of the Chicago Board of Trade Addition.
- The main entrance on Madison is a recessed telescoping archway, a device used by early Chicago architect Louis Sullivan in the Transportation Pavilion at the 1893 World's Fair.
- This is the tallest all-glass building in Chicago.

One South Wacker Drive

One South Wacker Drive ...
Completed in 1982 ...
designed by Helmut Jahn ..
Bordering streets : South Wacker Drive and West Madison Street ...

This massive mountain of glass-&-steel has all glass curtain walls in three colors ... black, silver & pink ... But on a clear day like this it always has a bluish-tinge ...

Click on the image for enlarged view ...

James R Thompson Center

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It was completed in 1985 ..
Architect is Helmut Jahn ..

James R Thompson Center [named after a four-term Illinois governor].

The building houses state government offices, a post office, a rapid transit station. ... and . It is an example of post-modern architecture ... with sloping glass wall from one corner of the block to another. It looks like a spaceship has landed on the roads ... a big, shiny, cheerful spaceship.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

The Museum Campus

Click on the image for enlarged view ...

Chicago's "Museum Campus" was opened in June 1998 ... It was created by the $110 million reconfiguration of Lake Shore Drive ... The Campus is Chicago Park District land that connects three Chicago cultural institutions ...
- The Shedd Aquarium,
- Field Museum,
- Adler Planetarium ...

The new Soldier Field was opened to the public in September 2003 ... This 'Stadium in a Park’ ... is another feature of the Museum Campus.

The Field Museum

Shedd Aquarium

Click on the image for enlarged view ...

Adler Planetarium

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Sunday, September 9, 2007

CME - Chicago Mercantile Exchange

click on the image for enlarged view ...

click on the image for enlarged view ...

Shots taken in Sep, 2007.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) is the largest futures exchange in the United States and the second largest exchange in the world for the trading of futures and options on futures.

Futures and options provide a way to protect against — and profit from — price changes in financial instruments and physical commodities. CME has four major product areas: interest rates, stock indexes, foreign exchange and commodities. CME is vital to the infrastructure of global finance. The products — futures and options on futures — help commercial enterprises worldwide manage price risks related to the uncertainties of supply and demand.

In March 2004, CME opened its new, state-of-the-art Visitors Center and Gift Shop on the lobby level to highlight the exchange's position in the world's marketplace. Here, the exchange's history, artifacts and trading foundation blend in with interactive kiosks and videos to help viewers understand the origins of the futures industry and how it influences the world's economy. The Visitors Center is open Monday through Friday and is free to the public.