Quote:
Originally Posted by Kumdogmillionaire
Uhhhh, it's almost a carbon copy of half the stuff coming out of there though(that isn't brick faux-factory design garble). Don't defend the West Loop.
God... this design is making my eyes bleed. Do we have a doctor here?
|
In this case, I'll defend the West Loop. While some (or most, depending on your opinion) of the West Loop midrises range from being either unremarkable to butt ugly, the use of brick as a cladding material at least makes them feel more authentic and help them blend in with their surroundings, which are also mostly existing brick construction.
The Union Station expansion is just... jarring. While theres nothing wrong with having a nice contrast of limestone and steel+glass, this is just done in a terrible manner. Instead of celebrating the differences of the two styles, one style somehow tries to ungracefully copy the other, and the end result is that it ends up shitting on the original building that it tried to compliment.
There are plenty of examples of having an expansion to a vintage building that plays off the contrasts between the materials and styles of each component. The Union Station rendering makes it seem that the addition is apologetically trying to hide itself from the viewer, as if it knows its inferior to the base it rests on.
SCB should take a cue from Foster + Partners on how to pull something like this off:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rstowernyc.JPG
Source: Wikipedia.org
And as I've mentioned before, completing the original Graham, Anderson, Probst & White expansion plan would also be acceptable, and in my opinion, preferred. Assuming of course that they use the right materials.