Also known as:

The Bloomingdale's Building

900 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, Gold Coast 60611 United StatesPrint this page   •   Share this page

If you're asking yourself, 'Haven't we seen this before?' The answer is yes, but not north of the river. 900 North Michigan Avenue incorporates a number of design ideas used in 1990's skyscrapers around the world, and right here in Chicago. But it manages to do so in a way that at least gives it the illusion of being something unique, rather than another cookie-cutter glass-and-beige box. The building is divided into four sections. The lowermost portion is, of course, retail in nature, as are most good developments along Chicago's Magnificent Mile. This is surmounted by a tower, the lower portion of which is beige with vertical stripes of glass. No surprises here. But this tower is topped by another tower, this one residential. This features deep furrows running up the east and west facades, creating the impression that four towers are holding up the building. This notion is duplicated at the roof of the building where four smaller towers, one on each corner, taper into pyramids and lanterns. While this is a design we've seen before in Chicago, it is not entirely unwelcome. Perhaps it is indicative of the city's evolution into a city not merely of skyscrapers, but of spires, gables, and other accents which pierce the night sky. There are worse ways to top a building.

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  The 90's have landed in Chicago, but it's not that bad. Most other cities are overrun with this sort of stuff but Chicago escaped it through the building lull, so this one ends up being unique.

Cris Novak - Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 @ 10:03pm