| Will students be gazing at the views instead of the lecturer? (photo from Chicago Tribune) |
As you pass under the sky-bridge connecting McCormick Place to the Crown Arie Theater the image of the skyline hits you in the face and leaves you speachless.
However, this most recent trip was different. It was a sunny day and the new Roosevelt University tower was shimmering. It caught our eye and thought about the statement the new building made on this beautiful picture. We loved it.
A couple of days ago, Blair Kamin, the acclaimed Chicago Tribune architecture critic, reviewed the building and offered some nice perspective:
| From Chicago Tribune |
Savvy architecture buffs tend to view look-at-me buildings with a wary glance. All too often, these designs are slick packages, not real places that ennoble our daily routines. Anybody who's witnessed the cacophony of shrieking skyscrapers in Dubai knows that.
Still, there is reason to think that Roosevelt University's striking new $123 million tower in downtown Chicago (left) will amount to something more than an eye-grabbing envelope.
The 32-story tower, which flaunts a zig-zagging silhouette and an equally arresting skin of blue and green glass, represents Chicago's latest innovation in skyscraper design. It is a vertical campus, stacking everything from a student union to lecture halls to dorm suites within a single, all-encompassing structure.
The gist of the piece was that it's a beautiful building that on paper seems to be functional as well. However, questions still remain whether or not Roosevelt University can attract more and more students to fill the tower. The Chicago Reader had a good piece about the risk the university took by constructing the building (see Sloopin post here). Only time will tell.
Give it to Kamin.
ReplyDeleteHe won't eat it he hates everything.
Hey Kamin!! He Likes It.