True, I guess from a pure academic standpoint. But Architecture must be both to be taken seriously. A society’s level of sophistication can be judged by its architecture. The lay perspective is something is “architectural” when it goes beyond status quo with a prominent spacial layout or contains embellishments it complex structures that are not easily created....again...lay perspective. The value poured into human skill and craftsmanship and the intelligence and technology to create gravity defying structure is art. And that’s generally what is appreciated, as society already feels entitled to a functional space. Function has become prescribed either by code, familiar precedent and rule of thumb. We need art more than ever to differentiate our buildings.

Just a small update on the restoration currently taking place in Union Station's headhouse, specifically, the restoration of the ceiling of the Great Hall-

From February-
https://i.imgur.com/ohsYbcU.jpg

From late June-
https://i.imgur.com/iJJ612l.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/eEOWdd9.jpg
img src - Union Station facebook page

The work shown appears to be the ceiling above one of the Canal St. staircases.

So beautiful. Thanks for pictures.

Gorgeous! Thanks for the pics!

#

Expect to see a redesign.

Thankyoulord

The first rendition was so awful I cynically wonder almost if it was on purpose so that critics and observers are thankful of whatever they have cooked up for 2.0.
I seriously doubt that was the modus operandi but I know I'll sure as hell be appreciative of whatever comes next by comparison.

:worship:

Considering all the great new additions to the CBD of Chicago and the terrific proposals on the drawing board I hate to throw out a negative opinion, but PLEASE redue that last proposal for the wonderful Union Station! The glass addition is so terrible as an addition to the classic look of the original structure. It is reminiscent of the Soldier Field addition which is in my opinion still an eyesore. Wish the original Train Station was not torn down in the early 1970's. I remember going there and it was like Grand Central Station to some degree. The classic look of that building along with the existing Waiting Room would have made that area so unique. I plead that the developer's go back to the drawing board and add something more classical to the top. Thanks!

Round 2. Have they potentially nixed the addition since there's no mention of apartments and the hotel room count has increased a bit?

Really hoping their revision doesn't suck, and if it does, then it's an acceptable amount of suckage unlike the first pass.

The developers either need to commit to the Burnham expansion plan (blend with the Art Deco base) using quality materials, or go all out with a thoughtful, modernist design (tastefully contrast with the base) ala Hearst Tower. But don't make some piece of crap then paint it beige in the hopes that no one notices it.

Another option is leave the station alone, and simply build the adjacent tower on the Union Station Transit Center on the south side of Jackson.

^Agreed. There’s great potential with this building. Just really hope they don’t monkey it up.

What’s the sq footage of office space they’re planning?

That's very promising. If it's all hotel rooms, they don't have the problem of needing additional depth to allow double-loaded apartments above the skylight. So now the cantilever is unnecessary, meaning they can clad the building however they think appropriate without it looking bizarre.

The community has traffic concerns ?. The main train station in the West loop and the community has traffic concerns.

The folks who live on the north side of Adams had some very specific, very local concerns about Uber/Lyft/taxi dropoffs and hotel valet operation. The link between those and deleting all the residential units, however, eludes me.

I think the real story is that Ald. Reilly and some guys from the mayor's office noted the public reaction and looked across at the developer and architect and said "is this really the design you want to build?"

very good news

I heard from a source close to this project that the addition will be scrapped and the hotel will be moved to the new tower.

If the residential component disappears from the top of the headhouse, that should allow the dropoffs for the hotel to be moved to Jackson Street, which, I'd imagine, would make them happy.

Rendering of the planned hotel dropoff along Adams
https://i.imgur.com/97KgGsel.jpg

Rendering of the planned entrance for residential along Jackson
https://i.imgur.com/LpEyxgGl.jpg
imgsrc - NBC5.com

It's almost laughable that those residents are so concerned about Adams, when their building greets Adams with a huge blank wall.

In addition to ditching the residential structure, if they also forgot about using floors 2 & 3 of the existing headhouse for offices and instead converted them into hotel space, as they are planning to do to floors 4-8, then it's possible that nothing new gets built on top, no? Is the existing unused space large enough for 400 rooms?

Originally, plans called for two 750,000 sqft. office buildings for Phase 2, where the Amtrak garage now stands. Might they instead build a single 1.6 million sqft office building at Clinton and Van Buren (the two 750,000 sqft buildings plus the 100,000 sqft of office planned for the headhouse combined), and a 1 million sqft residential or residential/hotel tower along Canal and Jackson, on top of the Transit Center? That would still leave 500,000 sqft available for Phase 3 (over the south train shed) as planned.

Also, there is discussion that the Legacy Club, the $20/day lounge in what used to be the Gold Lion dining room, will be closing within the next twelve months and be converted into restaurant/retail.