Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin, on the Elysian:
If all we do is laugh at traditionalism, rather than figuring out how to do it better, then the joke’s on us.
…[The Elysian’s] ridiculously overscaled top, which resembles a giant thimble or a Shriner’s hat, is a major blot on the skyline…The enlarged roof is a bizarre, leaden presence. Its faults are made more glaring by the fact that it’s sheathed in metal instead of shingles that would have created a more subtle, handcrafted look.
…Getting the proportions and materials right is no less important in traditional architecture than it is in modernism, and the Elysian comes up short as it reaches — in vain — for the high bar of vanished prewar elegance.
This isn’t as bad, frankly, as the building in the south loop (on Wabash – don’t know the name or address) with the toothpaste cap mansard which has a very strange gap between roof and building proper.
The Elysian, is a disgrace. Plain and simple disgrace.
A disgrace? Come on. With the exception of the mansard, and the the black balconies that I think are harsh looking, I’m glad it got built. Perhaps if the mansard and balconies were colored similarly to The Fordham or Pinnacle’s, that would soften things up. Regardless, I welcome it as a huge improvement to the neighborhood.