I believe rooftop helipads are illegal in Chicago (excluding hospitals and emergency services), so if that is one then it would predate the law.

I knew helipads were a big no-no for chicago but seems like a perfect place for politicians and oversea government officials to get to the city from the airports.

The iron lady stayed there now im impressed!

Thnx for the neat history lesson....:cheers:

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If only the chopper could have landed who knows how it would have turned out...

Amen to that!

So this is the actual suite they used during Kevin's stay at the "world renowned Plaza Hotel"? That'd be great if of all the suites in NYC, they chose one in Chicago.

Another interesting fact about Home Alone 2: The Rookery Building became Duncan's Toy Chest for the film.

God Bless John Hughes

Yup, Duncan's was the exterior of the rookery, just not the right interior that would have worked out. Except the skylight. Sadly now its just us bank signs on the windows. Hughes always loved to throw chicago love into his art.

Its really amazing when you think about the impact that one Director can have on a city. Losing John Hughes was a major loss to Chicago and its image.

To have a guy familiar with Chicago, its culture and its neighborhoods is huge. It can give a city some of the best PR imaginable. Today there is a tendency by Directors to just film downtown, say the movie is set in Chicago, and then shoot the neighborhood scenes for the rest of the movie in someplace like Toronto or Atlanta or LA. Its like they are afraid to get to know the real Chicago. And when they do this the viewer can tell and feel the difference because there is no place quite like Chicago.

John Hughes knew the real Chicago and he brought it to life in vivid colors. We don't have the now and for image sake we sorely miss that.

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111 W 57th will be iconic. I think developers and architects in Chicago can learn a thing or two from that building. It's an art deco rival with warmth - terra cotta, gold mullions.

The proportions of Essex on the Park are nice. The curtain wall looks fine, better than most buildings with blue glass and silver mullions, but it won't stand out. It should blend in with a sea of other blue/green glass skyscrapers that are already built or going up soon.

It will stand out because of its verticality amongst shorter vintage buildings.

12/28/17

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This is going to start rising fast in the new year. I'd say a floor every 5-6 days with those smaller floor plates like OBP?

^They are currently pouring a floor every 3 days (not including weather days) just like OBP. It should top off in June/July.

Are they cladding the fins on the the north and south sides? That is great if so.

I had been assuming it would just be an 'architectural coating' like we see on so many other exposed concrete surfaces.

Shameless does a good job of filming Chicago neighborhoods, although (I guess for budget reasons) they mix in some LA street scenes and a faux-Chicago backlot. They're pretty careful about mixing the two, most of the LA scenes are shot in close-up, no palm trees visible, etc. Usually I can only tell because of the telltale LA sunlight. All of Dick Wolf's Chicago shows include neighborhood scenes also, and Joe Swanberg's films/shows.

I'd say Chicago neighborhoods are getting more screen time than ever before.

A lot of the reluctance for directors is due to cost, on-location filming is very expensive. However, Cinespace is supposed to build a backlot with some Chicago-authentic facades, so hopefully that will help a little bit too (within the constraints of backlot filming).

Those legs are looking too skinny, are they using a special mix?

>I believe rooftop helipads are illegal in Chicago (excluding hospitals and emergency services), so if that is one then it would predate the law.

That sucks. One of my first impressions of NYC when I first visited like 20 years ago was all the helicopters flying around. It was kind of cool. Very "Escape From New York". Even now when I visit NYC I notice them

Thats good news and I hope you are right. Yea, Shameless is pretty good although the different shade of sunlight (I'm with you on that) is a tell tell sign and also the blue street signs kind of give it away on occasion. What I don't get is why I see so many scenes of front lawns (in various films) with the little 3 foot grass embankment when that is not a feature of any neighborhood in Chicago that I am aware of -- most likely filmed in Atlanta or someplace in the south. So my question is, why is Atlanta (or a city in the south) doing double duty for Chicago neighborhoods? Especially when Chicago is nothing like Atlanta. I assume it is most likely due to cost. And, if so, we need to somehow figure out a way to keep that business here by making it more affordable to film in Chicago.

I recognize that my take may be a bit simplistic as I am no expert on the subject. Anyhow, here's hoping that we get more culture shaping/generation defining movies set here like Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Fugitive, Thief, Risky Business, etc.:cheers:

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They aren't all legs [4 columns in front, 4 in back ]- the 4 on the sides are walls - clear across the width of the building - the total square footage is what bears the load, and a long thin wall has more area than a few fatter square columns. The wall also provides great rigidity by taking horizontal load/strain as well.

Now i see! Thnx...

Not to stay off topic but i'm pretty sure Chicago has one of the highest filming taxes of all major cities on the planet. I know the Matrix was originally supposed to be filmed in chicago but withe their low budget spending most of it on computer technology they ended up filming in canada for much less. If you watch the film you can actually see signs throughout the picture and the script. Such as "the intersection of state and lake" or the poster of chicago skline in his bosses office. But it is sad when movies turn out to be mega-blockbuster franchises but we lose them because we ask them for way too much money.