Chicago’s Willis Tower, once the world’s tallest building and one of the city’s top tourist attractions, is up for sale. [...]

The 1,450-foot (442-meter) building, formerly known as the Sears Tower, is the second-tallest in the U.S., and was the world’s highest from its completion in the early 1970s until 1998 [...]

“It’s iconic in the size and how it dominates the skyline, [...] As an office building, however, it’s 1970s construction.” — bloomberg.com

George Lucas said Friday that complications in his plan to build his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art on the Chicago lakefront may put Los Angeles back in the running.

Last summer, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti made a vigorous push to get the "Star Wars" creator to choose L.A., but the city lost out to Chicago.

"We still have to get through some lawsuits and things in Chicago [...] But it's still a possibility that Chicago will be unable to do it," Lucas said. — latimes.com

The [Lakefront Kiosk Competition] calls for the inventive design of a new kiosk that will be installed on Chicago’s lakefront, one of the city’s most vibrant public spaces. A jury of architects, curators, and city representatives will select one winner to receive the BP Prize, which includes an honorarium for design development and a construction budget to realize the design. — Chicago Architecture Biennial

Ash-har Quraishi reports on why some Chicagoans oppose a plan for a museum for the ‘Star Wars’ creator’s artwork — Al Jazeera

[...] Argonne scientists are taking on a challenge not usually associated with sophisticated computing: urban design. They say that for such large-scale developments, expert opinions, or even standard modeling, will no longer do. Instead, we need detailed simulations that will integrate immense amounts of data into one framework and project different scenarios for the designers to consider. Their initial prototype, called LakeSim, focuses on Chicago Lakeside. — nextcity.org

the new [Affordable Requirements Ordinance] would require that at least 25 percent of affordable units be built on site, removing the ability to opt out totally. [...]

Developers would also be allowed to meet the affordable unit requirement by building or rehabbing on other lots within a mile of the main site. The aim is to create affordable units in the neighborhoods where they’re most scarce, rather than to continue to concentrate them in the city’s poorer communities. — nextcity.org

Back in 2008, architect Santiago Calatrava placed an $11.34M lien on the Chicago Spire in the hope of being paid for his work on the project, which officially died in November, having never amounted to anything more than a hole in the ground. Now, Crain's Chicago reports that Calatrava may have missed the two-year window he had to file a lawsuit to enforce his claim. — curbed.com

Watching two grown men in a social media hissy fit over a building sign is actually a lot more amusing than one might think.

In this corner, Donald Trump, rich guy, who, in the view of one esteemed newspaper critic, has defiled our fine city by slapping his name on the side of his silvery, shiny building.

In the other corner, Blair Kamin, decorated architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune and defender of building aesthetics. — chicago.cbslocal.com

The Chicago Architectural Club launched its 2014 edition of the Chicago Prize ideas competition this past weekend: design the Barack Obama Presidential Library! From the lively discussion (if not frenzy) surrounding a Barack Obama Presidential Library possibly being built, the Chicago Prize invites architects and designers to send ideas of how the U.S. Presidential Library building typology should be reinvented. — bustler.net

Erecting such a building “without authority of the General Assembly will diminish or impair the beneficial interest of plaintiffs and other Illinois citizens” [...]

such a designation conflicts with the trust, which calls for preserving property as “a natural resource and as a free and open space not occupied by a giant building.” [...]

by acting without the approval of state lawmakers, the city and park district would have excessive power over the property “for which they have no authority.” — chicagobusiness.com

The theme of the 2015 edition will be "The State of the Art of Architecture," named after Stanley Tigerman's 1977 conference, and will feature an array of exhibitions and newly commissioned works, including a photo exhibition by lensman Iwan Baan exploring Chicago. [...]

The eventt ... is being planned by a group of heavy-hitters, including co-directors Sarah Herda, Director of the Graham Foundation, and Joseph Grima, former curator of Storefront for Art and Architecture — chicago.curbed.com