Thursday, December 25, 2008

Lake Point Tower



Completed: 1968 [ Was the heighest apartment building in the world at that time]..

Height: 645 feet..

Designers: John Heinrich and George Schipporeit of the Schipporeit and Heinrich firm. They were students of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ...

The building's curves were calculated so residents cannot see into each other's windows. The three arms are equally spaced at 120 degree angles.

Pioneered the concept of the "Park in the City" being the first such residential complex in a major city to have a two and one half acre park, a duck pond, and waterfalls three stories above ground. The building also features an assortment of shops and restaurants on the second and ground levels of the complex, under the third floor park.

Landscape architect Alfred Caldwell designed gardens for the entire roof of the pedestal, but the small section east of the tower was never developed.

Lake Point Tower is the only tall building in Chicago east of Lake Shore Drive; a city ordinance prohibits construction of any others. Harbor Point and Outer Drive East were also east of the Drive before the highway was shifted eastward.




Click on the image for enlarged view ...

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



Click on the image for enlarged view ...
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 ...