What the he** does this building have to do with its surroundings? Is that a joke? Where is the entrance? Who can tell. What does this facade(if you can call this tired curtain wall solution a facade)have to do with the materials, fenestration and rythmn of the adjacent neighbors? "Quietly Elegant?" Blair Kamin needs to take some courses in architectural design and urban planning. His comments are so clueless.

Lifeless,,,That's why they show the renderings as if the building is positioned on an island by itself.

Is this type of development what we can come to expect with other peoples definition of 'vibrant' neighborhoods?

I hope we can see more development like this. This is much betttttttttttter than much of the more recent development we have seen in local highrises.

Then again I seldom use the word "rhythm" when talking about architecture or development.

Yes Irishpirate, when talking about the parking podiums you may have a point, but that is like someone asking you do you want to be executed by lethal injection, gas chamber, or hanging. They all suck but the result is the same.

In this case, there is not depth or texture to what has been built.

The only depth and texture I detect here is in the "stank" coming from your pretentious comments. I recognize the stank as something I get on my shoes once in awhile.

People are entitled to their own opinions. Wrong though they may be.

I think most reasonably non pretentious people would describe that as a good looking building. Perhaps even striking.

I could throw in some terms like "angles" and "depth" and perhaps even a phrase such as it "lacks the symmetry of Da Vinci's 'Vitruvian Man' and fails to highlight the elascticity of man and building". But I don't because I would have no idea what it means. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and a good looking building is just a good looking building.

Get ahold of yourself; there was nothing 'pretentious' about my comments. Is the parking podium better than most, yes…but it still looks and feels isolated.

The point is, when did we start judging the looks of a building starting from the 10th floor up and ignoring the base? Yes, parking is a necessary evil luxary and zoning requirement, but even with the upper design being modern, they could have easily integrated a decent stone clading (of quality material and architectural accent) on the lower floors to integrate and flow with the street level, even with a modern touch.

But in this case, it screams "WHEEL..OF..FORTUNE!"

Irshpirate, get a grip. "People are entitled to their own opinions. Wrong though they may be."?
What? Of course these comments are opinions and they are neither wrong or right.

What people are saying is why do our new buildings have to resemble the air conditioning condenser in my back yard? Cigars? Are you sure what you're smoking is a "cigar?"

Ladies and gents,

boys and girls,

I rest my case based on the two preceding comments.

Rest your case? What are you talking about? Respond to the questions/comments in a cogent, lucent manner. "Resting your case" doesn't mean a thing.

Sorry, rested. I don't feel like "taking candy from a baby". Sure, it's fun and momentarily makes one feel good, but it's not something to be proud of.

Please tell me your not a fellow architect. Twould be a quiver thru me heart.

No, he thinks he is a hipster…he wants to be the chick in Bull Durham…"…William H. Blake…"

Drink some caubernet……it's good for your overwrought Blakeian heart.

I've never known enough about popular culture to be a hipster and I don't wear a beret. I did wear a beret back in my Army days and it wasn't green. Alas, if I had perhaps today I would be thinner and experiencing different weather than what we've recently had here.

I am not an architect. Just a wise ass. Or more likely an unwise ass.

On that we should all agree.

I had chance to walk by it today. The upper floors and transition look good. However they missed the chance to make a great statement at the base. In a cornfield by by itself, it might be ok, but the lack of context and transition is very noticable. If they could have framed the same glass with some brick, stone or terra cotta in, even with a modern twist, it would have been great.

Paul, I am a fellow architect and I love this building. The curtain wall is one of the best I've seen on a developer-driven condo project in Chicago. I agree with you that parking podiums are killing neighborhoods, but at least this one looks nice! Sure, you can't find the entrance. Would you prefer some kind of post-modernist classical portico tacked on the front? If you actually walk by this thing you feel quite connected to the interior lobby because the glass is quite clear. It's not nearly as fortress-like as the photo above suggests.

The building is much more contextual when you look at Streeterville as a whole. The picture above only shows some low-rise brick buildings, but zooming out reveals a neighborhood where this tower is right at home. I think it's the best new high-rise in Chicago that I've seen in quite a while!

I'm going through my head right now to figure out if I know any architects named Paul… None in my office. Phew!

I'm not a big fan of this building, but the one part that I think is great is the lobby.

Walking by at street level, the glass walls give the impession that the lobby and the sidewalk outside are a common space. It's more integrated with the streetscape than any building I can think of.

As for fitting in — wasn't the whole idea of this to stand out?

No I would not "prefer some kind of post-modernist classical portico tacked on the front", that would indeed be tacky. Why can't you engage in a thoughtful discussion about some of the points mentioned earlier in this string? Why CAN'T a new building have an entrance? Is it some modernist dictum that we have to have everything so bland and vanilla? If I was at a college jury and a student said something like: "Sure you can't find the entrance" I'd give him an F.

Paul, I think you're being too orthodox about this entry issue. Sure, there are modern buildings that have wonderful entry conditions that truly call you in from the street. But that's not what this one is about, and I don't think it takes away from the overall buidlding. Helmut Jahn (in his new incarnation) is all about simple pure subtlety. And this is a nicely detailed beautiful form with a subtle elegance that isn't often found in Chicago anymore. It's not the best bulding I've ever seen, but it certainly is much better than what we've been seeing lately.

This whole entry bug-a-boo is facinating to me. For one thing, this is residential, so you don't want to lure traffic into your lobby like you might with retail or office space.

That being the case, the residents will figure out where the entry is soon enough (sure, we've all had problems finding our own front door, but in most cases there has been drinking involved!)

To add or substract anything at the street level would take away from the clean lines and that would be a shame.

"Clean lines", "subtle elegance?" Are we looking at the same building? These are catchphrases for minimalism. Did Sullivan and Burnham, not to mention Marshall ever resort to minimalism. No, they were brave enough to express a humane detail to their buildings with texture and bravado. Sullivan would cry to hear people lifting up Jahn as some kind of genius. This is just another lazy curtain-walled solution that gives nothing to the street or the pedestrian.