This question is strictly about opinion, on how you see things. There is nothing right or wrong here, only differences in how visual impact affects each of us.
I'm going to share how I "see" Chicago's evolving skyline and how I also see the other two great global skylines, NYC & HK, and how they compare.
Chicago, more than the other two, has always counted on architectural quality rather than sheer volume it can not achieve in its ranking of being among the three great skylines of the world.
That said, Chicago still has managed to transcend architecture to present a skyline that is pleasing to look at from all angles. Chicago has sufficent density of big buildings and has always been blessed by super tall's that puncuate this skyline, perhaps better than either Hong Kong or Manhattan.
Looking at the three skylines today, in my characterization I see them this way:
1. Manhattan: the dominant thing here is the sheer mass of Midtown, an enormous "block" of steel and concrete that combines incredible density with notable height. It is unique. The block tends to be surprisingly flattened with neither the giant Empire State Bldg or the Chrysler Bldg able to "break away" from the whole. Manhattan is also visually blessed by the distance between the towers of midtown and Lower Manhattan, again an incomparable visual delight. Unfortunately, downtown Manhattan has been more "flattened" than midtown with boxy buildings that destroyed the delicate spire-type skyline of yore, a bygone gem perhaps more romantic than any other skyline in history. Manhattan's island status and wide rivers give it the most "Oz" like quality of the great skylines, a sense of arrival unparralled.
2. Hong Kong wows by how spread out the skyline is, spread out and high at the same time. It doesn't have the core of Midtown Manhattan, but compensates with more square mileage of real skyscraper heaven. Ironically HK's magnificent mountain-side site, while adding incredible beauty, detracts from the ability to see the skyline against...well....the sky.
3. Chicago uses attention to detail, magnificent architecture, and its core status within concentric rings to gain it status. In its own way, Chicago's may be the most centralized skyline in the world. Like HK and Manhattan, Chicago takes advantage of location: the contrast of soaring skyline against the flatness of an endless lake, the most canyonized river in the world. And, as stated before, the ability to "punctuate" the skyline with the likes of JHC, Sears, Aon.
Now here is what is key: Chicago today can grab you with incredible beauty and plent of mass, but lacks some of Manhattan's and Hong Kong's "WOW" factor....which depends far less on beauty than it does on the ability to delightfully overwhelm. It is the over-the-top nature of both that works well for them.
But what about today.....and tomorrow? Look at some of the structures that Chicago is building or will build. Trump and Waterview are under construction. Others with their type of height (or near it) are on the boards. So here is the real question (finally.....I'm as windy as the Windy City):
WILL CHICAGO'S ABILITY TO "PUNCTUATE" ITS SKYLINE WITH INCREDIBLELY TALL BUILDINGS AND KEEP THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE LOWER ONES THAT SURROUND THEM MAKE OUR SKYLINE AS "AWE INSPRING" TO YOU AS THE DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF NYC AND HK?> |
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