August 15, 2005
This is what I mean…
I said it last week: bigger is better.
And a real estate developer in Chicago agrees with me:
The architect’s concept is breathtaking: a spiraling, 115-story tower that would pierce the sky along Chicago’s lakefront and grab the title of the nation’s tallest building.
…
His plans show a svelte, platinum building with twists akin to an enormous drill bit climbing into the clouds. The high-rise will house a hotel and up to 250 residential units that he hopes will fetch between $1 million and $2 million apiece.
“It’s very atmospheric. It’s not a building that is a severe statement in the skyline,” Calatrava said. “We need the height; otherwise, the building almost disappears because it is so slender.”
Artist’s Conception:
This, my friends, is the American Ideal. It is reaching farther and higher than anyone has ever done before. It is the design of a visually striking and completely unique building. It is, whether you like the design or not (I love it), an expression of human potential. And after 9/11, it is an expression of defiance and courage.
Which, of course, is why I give it only a 15-20% chance of actually being built. Barring the question of whether enough funding will be available, or whether insuring the building will make it financially feasible to build, I fear that it will be the hands of regulators and government that strangle this idea and destroy it. Whether it’s city zoning boards or planning commissions, risk-averse regulators or city officials that require their palms to be a little more greased than usual, it won’t be easy to build. That, coupled with the number of people in our country content to live in the shadows of greatness rather than aspire to it themselves, and chances may be slim.
I look at that drawing, and that is a building that is just screaming to be built. And Chicago needs to atone for the visual monstrosity that Soldier Field has become. This building is a brash statement. It is a reminder that we’ve still got it. It needs to be built, simply to remind us that we can.
Hat Tips: Below the Beltway, Gullyborg, and the Cheese, who all also bring up The Fountainhead connection.
Below The Beltway linked with What He Said
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Yes, It’s a stunning building! It looks like a giant trophy to me.
TF and I got to see Reliant Stadium last week when we took our grandson to the Circus. It’s a beauty too. It is sitting right next to the Astrodome, the old and the new. What a contrast. I hope they figure out what to do with the dome because I think it has a lot of years left. The city is still paying for some remodeling they did on it about 10 years ago.
What He Said
Brad over at The Unrepentant Individual has more to say about why the Fordham Spire should be built