I just noticed that too....but really don't like it. But i will reserve judgement until i see the finished product.

Great shots, harry! Keep em coming.

I have a feeling that this building is going to stand out more than One Grant Park, given how much it will tower over the Hilton and its neighbors. Then again, OGP will be absolutely huge, so I might be wrong. We'll see.

Great pics, Harry!

This building is really turning out to be a stunner. I can't wait to see it in its finished form!

I was hoping this one would have a grayish-blue, reflective glass (like Legacy). It would cohere more with the form to give it a soaring, ethereal vibe. The green will weigh it down more and make it feel more slab-like, even though I find the color pleasing in isolation.

Vista, I agree, would do well with a green glass like this. It would give proper visual weight to the form and emphasize the structure and geometry so much better than a color that contrasts little with the sky.

I don't know i really like the green here. Those stripes looks slick - it's like 200 N Michigan in plain sight, but better imo. I'm pretty sure the Jahn tower is gonna be blueish and its right next door.

Exactly what I was thinking. With the Legacy and Jahn being very blue, the green of the Essex will be a nice contrast. Having them all be blue would have been nauseating

^ Yep and also Roosevelt is gonna really stand out, not just bc it's so tall but it's basically charcoal grey glass in the renderings.

True, but imagine the effect of three icy blue slabs that meld with the sky soaring behind the earthy, squat towers of the Michigan streetwall... :slob::uhh::D

Looks like that middle stripe of opaque glass has a wrong window on the upper right spot. I guess at least there is no opaque glass on the front. I like the color of the glass but still don't like the stripes of dark glass.

^ go to yochicago's blog and look at pics of essex from a distance. the stripes really add to it's verticality.

03/13/18

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...035310/enhance

https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...035292/enhance

Context shot
https://uniim1.shutterfly.com/ng/ser...035294/enhance

I still don't like the opaque windows. Why even put them there. There are no columns behind them. Waste of a view in my opinion. Even if that is the divider between rooms the wall would never be that thick. I really liked this building until those windows...they really bug me.

IDK, my opinion might change when it is completed and the interior shades get installed, but it appears to me that the spandrel glass is quite a few shades too light...

I do not remember any renderings of this building from the side. The ones i have seen only show it from a slight angle so i never really noticed these were part of the plan for this.

Behind the opaque glass there are wall partitions.

I really like the opaque glass. Usually these buildings have such a saran wrap effect and this helps downplay that. It also enhances the verticality of the tower on its wider side.

The heat pumps are behind the spandrel glass along with the demising walls either between units or between the living room and bedroom.

Of course I understand the functionality of what we architects usually call 'spandrel glass' whether it is in the spandrel itself, or concealing structure or HVAC, or simply reducing the amount of vision glass as a cost-saving measure (notice here that only the eastern rooms and corner rooms have floor-to-ceiling vision glass). What is unusual here is that one would typically 'paint' the back of the glass spandrels a darker color to more closely mimic the shade of the glass as it appears without any backing...

Unfortunately, I suspect that it is somewhat of a mistake since it does not necessarily appear as an intended pattern... time will tell.

Hrm. Not sure how I feel yet about the "spandrel glass". I feel that having the transparent blue glass wrapped all around the building would look better, but I'll defer judgement until the building is further along in its construction.

Either way, I am still pleased with the way its turning out. It certainly has been a surprise hit so far.