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.

Archinect - News

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