Sunday, April 29, 2007

Tall towers and how they create Chicago focal points

So this is in response to the thread about the Sears tower dominating the skyline.

Their have been so many threads about ranking city skylines. But I must say we are extrodinarily lucky in Chicago. Not only because of all our tall towers, but that our supertalls are spaced out, and not clustered together. This tradition continues with Trump and Waterview Tower. I feel that each of the current and future supertalls ground a certain defineable area of Chicago; they are gateways, or icons of areas, so to speak. I see it this way:

JHC: Tip of Mag mile
Aon: Edge of Millennium park
Sears: Heart of the Loop
Trump: Mag mile meets Chicago river
Waterview: Loop meets Chicago river

I'm not counting the AT&T tower, keeping with Chicago tradition of not recognizing F'ing spires as supertalls.

So, now I have a question. What other areas would you like to see grounded with a supertall? There are some obvious choices.

Wolf Point: The N & S branches of river converge
Fordham Sp.: Chicago river meets Lake Michigan

and possible focal points: Chinatown, South loop, Western edge of Lincoln park (the actual park, not neighborhood).

What would you guys list?>

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