The Tribune yesterday released the latest rendering of Santiago Calatrava’s much ballyhooed Chicago Spire, after the architect was accused of withholding the new design at a community meeting last week. The computer rendering (as seen on Lynn Becker’s Repeat) shows a more tapered tip, rather than the flat-edged summit of the previous redesign, which drew unfavorable comparisons to Mexican cuisine on this Web site. Yo’s truly thinks the new tower is much more graceful than Mach II, but we suspect Calatrava will return to the napkin and come up with a few more modifications before the design is finalized.
In an effort to make the 2,000-foot tower financially viable, Shelbourne Development has scrapped the hotel component and opted to make the building all condominiums. Apparently Calatrava also has conceived a lobby that would be five stories tall with cathedral-like concrete arched vaults. The Trib provides more information about the evolution of the Spire’s design in a flash presentation.
In an interview with the Trib, Calatrava reportedly pulled out a small brown snail shell and said that its rotating forms may inspire the design for the tower’s summit.