CHICAGO | 500 N Lake Shore Drive | 497 FT / 151 M | 47 FLOORS | COM

[J_M_Tungsten]

The thing I liked about the first design of this building was it was tall enough to distract the butt ugliness of the north pier apartments.

[detroitmetro101]

it doesnt make sense to build a shorter building than the previous proposal. b/c that black residential tower (dont know thename) would block lakefront views. if they build a taller building, they could sell the top space at a much higher price because of the views, idk, just a thought. ilikethe building and its design, and itll probably turn out great, it just doesnt make sense for it to be so short.

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by Ch.G, Ch.G

It snows more frequently than one would think; the high altitude gives Madrid colder winters than other continental Mediterranean cities. Not that it even matters. As Hayward pointed out, there are in fact species of plants that 'look good' all year round. Brightly colored flowers aren't necessary-- there are hardly any in the "vertical garden."

I understood, having seen Hayward's post, that some kind of year-round plant wall would be possible in Chicago. My point was that offering any example from Madrid -- without commenting whether the example would also survive somewhere very cold -- was pretty useless, since Madrid's average low temps are above freezing all months of the year. Chicago has a big fraction of the year with below-freezing nightly temps and of course weeklong stretches below freezing. And then we add the fact of the exposure to the open lake.

Also, a general question, is it more challening for all these vaunted prairie grasses to survive in a vertical installation (which also won't be tended to as carefully as, say, the city does the street planters)? I'm not familiar with how they are planted in that vertical configuration.

I mean, if it hasn't been done long-term before in Chicago (please point out exceptions if that's wrong), isn't it reasonable for one to conclude that this render's exuberance is more property marketing folly than realistic?

[Nowhereman1280]

Grass will grow on any surface that is stable. That said there are also many creeping plants that are native to the area that could add even more texture to such a wall.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Originally Posted by denizen467

I understood, having seen Hayward's post, that some kind of year-round plant wall would be possible in Chicago. My point was that offering any example from Madrid -- without commenting whether the example would also survive somewhere very cold -- was pretty useless, since Madrid's average low temps are above freezing all months of the year. Chicago has a big fraction of the year with below-freezing nightly temps and of course weeklong stretches below freezing. And then we add the fact of the exposure to the open lake.

Also, a general question, is it more challening for all these vaunted prairie grasses to survive in a vertical installation (which also won't be tended to as carefully as, say, the city does the street planters)? I'm not familiar with how they are planted in that vertical configuration.

I mean, if it hasn't been done long-term before in Chicago (please point out exceptions if that's wrong), isn't it reasonable for one to conclude that this render's exuberance is more property marketing folly than realistic?

So you're arguing that plants cannot grow along a wall in Chicago but they can in Madrid because of the weather?

[denizen467]

^ Just that compared to Madrid, many fewer kinds of plants can grow on a wall in Chicago because of the weather, particularly a wall that faces a windswept arctic space for a fraction of the year (also with no southern exposure). And even fewer if the wall is non-essential eye candy on a residential building, facing a highway and 50 feet above pedestrians, where funds are far less likely to be devoted to periodic upkeep than with a Madrid art gallery's marquee art installation facing a small urban public plaza. (If you look at how the artist, Patrick Blanc, describes his green walls, they involve a piping system soaking a felt-covered wall with a water and nutrients -- which seems like a popsicle waiting to happen here on LSD.) So, it's not that any kind of green wall won't work in Chicago, it's only that this photo isn't helpful in suggesting it will work in Chicago at Peshtigo. Not meant to be a big point; that's why the post was just one line.

Have large green walls been done successfully in Chicago anywhere for any length of time? It would be great, as there are quite a few massive blank walls in various parts of the city.

I wonder if Related added greenery to the parking podium's western facade too -- that faces the park and piergoers who are coming down Illinois, so it would almost make more sense there than on the eastern facade.

[kayosthery]

Does anybody know who the general contractor is for this building?

[Tex17]

I like it well enough, just wish the Peshtigo had already been built instead.

[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by kayosthery

Does anybody know who the general contractor is for this building?

Lend Lease I do believe...

[george]

I prefer this new design. It airs up the space between neighboring tower views. It's not such a monolith as The Peshtigo.

[J_M_Tungsten]

Here's an old one of the peshtigo that really makes me wish this one got built instead, but the new One is cool too.


The tribe

[harryc]

[wrab]

The old P&W design reminds me strongly of the Gropius Pan Am Building (now Met Life) in NYC, even though the massing is different.

[SamInTheLoop]

^ It was a relatively unique design that would have really added something to Chicago's skyline. Shame that scheme was launched too late in the condo boom.


Back to the plan that is materializing, seems like the foundation work went by fairly quickly, and great to see another tower crane in the sky downtown....

[arkitekte]

Originally Posted by J_M_Tungsten

Here's an old one of the peshtigo that really makes me wish this one got built instead, but the new One is cool too.


The tribe

That old design is pretty sharp.

[RobertWalpole]

This is a huge disappointment, particularly in light of the great location.

[harryc]

Dats one big support.






Now I'll have to come back and see if the outer columns stay outside of the "basement" . Just never thought of big buildings, much less skyscarpers w/o basements.

[harryc]

The last days of a surface lot kiosk




and the end of the last sliver of lake from my office.

[J_M_Tungsten]

They're already working on the core, but they left the parking lot kiosk?

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ Lol, I'm a little befuddled by that too. You'd think the first thing they'd do would be to raze any and all obstructions. It wouldn't take one of those excavators more than a minute to smash that thing and rip the footings out...