Chicago Architecture Firm Happy to Not Be Needed Today
While you were sequestered in your micro apartment exchanging accusing stares with your cat (she totally ate the last Yoplait), the boffins down at bKL Architecture have been fighting the good fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. And now their part is done. The Loop designers of glassy things that scrape the sky have completed their mission of banging out protective face shields with a stable of 3D printers. Face shield production at...
Chicago Architecture Firm Joins Fight Against COVID-19
3D printers aren’t new, but they aren’t exactly household appliances yet. The COVID-19 pandemic may change that, as the once-exotic gadgets have finally found their killer application: Filling in when the supply chain falls down. Face shield production at bKL Architecture (Via GoFundMe) We’ve seen everyone from computer companies to casino moguls venture into the medical merchandise making milieu. And...
Evanston’s Newest Apartment Building Open For Business
Evanston is the latest Chicago suburb to sport a new apartment building. LINK Evanston recently had its official grand opening, complete with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 811 Emerson Street, on the northern edge of the city’s downtown. The LINK Evanston (Courtesy of CA Ventures) LINK (shout when you say that) brings the neighborhood 241 new apartments in a nine-story building. Apartments in the bKL-designed building range from...
A Brief Slice of Union West
If you haven’t seen what’s happening with the Union West development lately, now you have. Construction of Union West (Courtesy of Near West Spy Joel) Near West Spy Joel sent in the photograph above showing one of Union West’s new 15-story towers from West Washington Boulevard. The ZOM Living project designed by bKL has a second such tower, and together they bring 357 new apartments, 255 new parking spaces, and...
Getting Ready For Another Loop Skyscraper
It was just a few weeks ago that ground was broken for two of the final four skyscrapers destined to rise in Lakeshore East. Now there are promising signs that a third tower will sprout soon. Pre-construction work for Building O (Courtesy of Loop Spy Jody) Loop Spy Jody dropped some pictures in our tip line after spotting a geotechnical crew doing soil sampling at 193 North Columbus Drive — the space between Aqua and 300 East...
Groundbreaking Leaves Lakeshore East With Just Two Skyscrapers to Go
With skyscraper nerds across the Midwest still giddy from yesterday’s groundbreaking ceremony for the Cirrus and Cascade towers in Lakeshore East, it’s worth tallying what’s left to build there. The answer is: not much. There are just two more large buildings left to build at the complex that started its journey from wharf-side rail yard to model urban community over half a century ago. August 2018 rendering...
Here They Grow Again: Lakeshore East Breaks Ground on Two New Skyscrapers
Hands will be shaken, smiles will be flashed, and ground will be broken today on Cirrus and Cascade, the latest skyscrapers to rise at Lakeshore East. They’re the newest towers to go up at the lake-adjacent former rail yard that Magellan Development has been turning into a rather nice residential community over the last couple of decades. This time, Aussie Lendlease is lending a hand. So to speak. Rendering of Cirrus...
Michigan Avenue Eyesore to be Replaced by Homes and Hotel Tower
The northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Place has never been very much. In fact, its glory days were probably before there was a Chicago, when it was the reedy home to minnows, snails, and the occasional soggy moccasin lost in the mud. Now it looks like the old brick warehouse-turned-office/retail building that squats on that corner today will make way for a 523-foot tall skyscraper designed three blocks away by bKL...
Another Skyscraper Ready to Rise on Lake Michigan
With all its shiny skyscraper goodness, it’s sometimes hard to remember that Lakeshore East is half a century old this year. Illinois Central Railroad’s 1969 plan for Lakeshore East It was in 1969 that the Illinois Central Railroad decided that its riverfront rail yard might be more profitable as a bunch of residential, office, and hotel towers. Fifty years later, that plan is inching toward completion with the coming of...
Vista Tower Topping Off Approaches
It’s getting harder and harder to avoid seeing the Vista Tower looming over Chicago’s river and lakefront. The Studio Gang design is turning the heads of tourists, and even jaded locals who only look up and gawk when they want to be involuntarily relieved of their wallets. Vista Tower under construction (Courtesy of Joe Zekas/YoChicago!) In the photo above from Joe Zekas at YoChicago!, we can see the tallest of the building’s...
