Archinect - News

Whither 400 Lake Shore Drive? Chicago critic Edward Keegan asks for a firm answer

2024-08-15T13:05:00-04:00

Chicago’s most infamous vacant site of the 21st century is finally getting a tower. But will we be getting the architect’s best vision — or just half of a good design? A look at some recent history of large projects in the city offers some guidance, and reason for concern. I have no reason to doubt Related’s stated intention to build both towers, but if history is a guide, it’s more likely than not that the single tower will never see its sibling.

The Windy City's newest architecture critic, Edward Keegan, explains 400 Lake Shore Drive (designed by SOM's Chicago office with David Childs) against five other similar projects that never saw the original vision of their architects fully realized. He says a potential void might become a permanent edifice where once Santiago Calatrava endeavored to build his 2,000-foot Spire tower if Related Midwest is not kept to task by city officials and an active group of "concerned citizens."

"We need a planning mechanism that pays more attention to the interim state of larger projects without becoming too enamored with the complete design," he writes further for the Tribune's newly established architecture column. "Because city building is always a work in progress, as a number of orphan towers can attest."

The first half of the project broke ground in June and expects to be ready for its initial tenants to move in by the fall of 2027.

Think of sunnier days ahead with this floating "Walk-On" balcony

2015-02-11T15:07:00-05:00

On a regular office workday when the weather is fair, it can be hard to resist stepping outside to take a quick breather. The designers of Zalewski Architecture Group from Gliwice, Poland found themselves in a similar mindset as they looked out onto the dreary courtyard outside from their third-floor office. Then came the idea for the "Walk-on" balcony.

At only 80 cm wide, the narrow grassy pathway whirls and intertwines with itself while suspended in the air, latching itself to the walls of the surrounding buildings. It also features a polished metal palate underneath that mirrors its surroundings. Unless you're afraid of heights or are seeking a little adventure, the pathway "allows for a relaxing walk 'from office to office'" and adds some whimsical fun to the courtyard, as described by the designers.

With spring and summer outdoor events around the corner, the Zalewski Group's idea of the "Walk-on" balcony has potential to be fully realized into an interactive installation. From t...

The landmark buildings that never were

2012-07-24T20:56:00-04:00

Economic and social factors across the ages meant that some of the grandest designs of renowned architects such as Lutyens and Inigo Jones were never completed. Here are five ambitious building projects that never made it off the drawing-board.

Manhattan Memorious

2012-04-10T11:28:00-04:00

Before a city becomes a thing of steel, concrete, and glass it is a theater of visions in conflict. As a city ages, the visions do not die but come up against the physical and ideological resistance of the place and its people. This is an account of a Manhattan that could have been – might have been. A phantasmagorical Manhattan where the visionary meets the everyday. The island as we know it is but a pale reflection of a city designed by visionaries – a city of mad, incongruous utopias.

The film (created for Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale) visualizes several unrealized projects for Manhattan, including Buckminster Fuller’s dome over Midtown, Rem Koolhaas’ City of the Captive Globe, RUR’s East River Corridor, Paul Rudolph’s Eastside Redevelopment Corridor, Morphosis’ West Side Yard and others.