In the next few years, Chicago's iconic Aon Center will be getting a shiny, new glass-sheathed exterior elevator that is set to be the tallest of its kind in North America. Designed by locally based Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB), the elevator — which will be tucked into the northwest corner of the tower — is part of the upcoming “The Observatory at Aon Center”. Construction begins this spring.
At street level, visitors will first go through the geometric entry pavilion, which will contain ticketing functions, retail, and entertainment. Visitors will then hop into a pair of glass-walled double-deck elevators, which will transport them 1,000 vertical feet up the 83-story building in just about 60 seconds. The glass shaft will be anchored at every fourth floor of the tower.
Once visitors reach the public observatory at the top of the tower, they'll be greeted by a panoramic view of the city, including Millennium Park, Lake Michigan, and the Loop. The project is currently slated for a 2021 completion.
Design team: SCB; The Hettema Group (observatory designer); Legends Hospitality (observatory operator); MKA (structural engineer); and Cosentini Associates (mechanical engineer).
It's ridiculous how many buildings (in Chicago, especially, I think?) are putting thrill-ride doodads on themselves to generate income. We need an alien invasion PDQ.
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It's ridiculous how many buildings (in Chicago, especially, I think?) are putting thrill-ride doodads on themselves to generate income. We need an alien invasion PDQ.
#necessary
Gross. No respect for a beautiful icon of the skyline. The elevator is bad, but breaking up the Monolithic window language at the top is even worse.
Of course, lately SCB hasn't been producing the greatest designs for building additions to iconic architecture...
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so a panaromic elevator with a view of the dirty backside of the illinois center? the gross dumbness of the design is symptomatic of a process that involved no one on the clients side with the good sense or judgment to try to learn anything about this building, architecture, or chicago. probably won't even make money for them.
Lame. The starting point for a high rise thrill ride is The Towering Inferno.
Work with what's there, don't ignore it.
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