I don't want any of that building peeking through the canyons to be honest. I think the grey will be less visible once the Apparel Mart is surrounded completely. :shrug:

Yes!

Nope. This 'paint all earlier tan or beige buildings blend-in boring grey' movement will be lauged at later just like the 1950's 'remove the ornate classical facade so it will blend in better' movement is now.

Nope. Basic color theory—the warm beige would have provided more contrast as a background where cool toned glass buildings in the foreground would stand out more. The gray will just muddy the whole composition.

It's a particularly bad shade of gray that took a mundane building and made it worse.

Those are some strong statements that maybe are accurate in theory, but in the real world I expect things to play out very differently. Only time will tell, but all the beige coloring would have done was strongly outline where the buildings are not, and there is no one who can call that shade of brown "warm". Whether or not it will be better is one thing to argue, but the old Sun Times building gave off as much warmth as a February morning in Green Bay.

I'm just speaking from personal experience, but the building has been so easy for me to look past with its current grey color, than what it looked like when it was brown. It went from sore thumb, to forgettable and benign mass. The massing and design of the building meant that it would be ugly regardless, so obviously it's a lose lose situation.

Beige is a warm color tone. I was not using abstract descriptions. A warm orange-sh beige and a cool blue-ish glass sit somewhat opposite each other on the color wheel. That makes them complimentary and high in contrast.

Despite what you feel, color relationships follow practical rules. And while you may find it easier to look past the building in the background (going to happen regardless when you put large objects in front of it) the net effect is that the gray will also serve as a worse backdrop in terms of making the buildings in the foreground stand out.

You can already see the reverse of this effect when viewing the apparel mart from the west—like Kinzie/Desplaines. It now stands out more than it had against a backdrop of River North beige.

Sept 01



Sept 02



Sept 04





Sept 05

The old Sun Times Building was grey. Unless you meant the Apparel Mart which has housed the Sun Times and other tennants since 2004ish.

I'm gonna go on record as saying in its original form the Mart's Apparel Center made more architectural sense as a brutalist styled expansion of the then filled to capacity Merchsndise Mart. The expression through massing and bulk reflected on the outside of the nearly windowless building the utilitarian power within. Not pretty but it at least had real theory behind it.

http://i67.tinypic.com/29e54pv.jpg

Respect.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree because my experience seeing it every day is different than what you are saying.

As for Kolchak, I think you know what I meant by old Sun Times building...
This conversation is teetering on passive aggressiveness, so I'm just gonna step away from it now.

all i know is they still have not painted the spot behind the holiday in sign.......starting to think they are going to leave that alone.

Just trying to help you better understand what you are looking at. Color theory is well studied and understood. You can disagree if you like, but there are objective measures you can use to form opinions around.

September 4, 2018

^ Now there's a vantage point we haven't seen yet! Great shot, PittsburghPA!

Thanks! I should be able to update with that view every few weeks.

Oooh so much eye candy :cheerleader:

I agree. A super bright white could have made it look futuristic and more modern.

Today:

https://i.imgur.com/mDyVML3.jpg?1

^Thank you for your frequent updates on this project. It really is a great perspective.