It was one of those view days in Chicago, sunny and with an unclouded blue sky.
I was visiting Astoria Tower for a video shoot, and stepped out on a northwest corner balcony for a look at the skyline. Most of the view is familiar to anyone who has spent some time in South Loop high-rises.
One disconcerting element in the view is 2 East 8th, an early 80s apartment building turned pricey student housing for Columbia College. It’s the building at the right center of the above photo with the white and beige vertical risers topped by a horizontal band of red.
2 East 8th blocks a view of the Trump Tower and focuses attention on the striking group of buildings to its right: Legacy soaring above the Inland Steel building, CNA Center, Roosevelt University’s audacious new and very blue vertical campus, the Auditorium Theater, Aon Center, Aqua, Blue Cross Blue Shield and 340 on the Park. What a wonderful ensemble!
Three cheers for the red, white and blue.