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The photograph was taken from the rooftop bar of the Ace Chicago Boutique Hotel. If I had guests in town, I might suggest staying here. It is a little off the beaten path if the Michigan Avenue, Lake Michigan, and Millennium Park are your destinations, but they are all a relatively quick "L" or cab ride away. One thing is for sure, this neighborhood is now restaurant central.
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The photograph may not fully capture the effect of the curve, but someone standing at the base, looking up, first sees the actual bend. If the person stares long enough, the top of the building appears to bend back over the person, which is just an illusion.
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Regular readers have seen this photograph before, but this one is very different from the earlier one. It's later afternoon, with the sun streaming in between two skyscrapers, providing a wonderful glow to the scene.
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A few weeks back I said that I have had trouble capturing an image of the Jean Dubuffet sculpture that sits in front of Helmut Jahn's State of Illinois building. While heading out from today's 50th-anniversary reenactment of the the unveiling of the Picasso statue in Daley Plaza, I passed the west wall of the Daley Plaza. I had noticed the reflection before, but today the colors were striking and I liked the tableau of pedestrians. Not much more to say.
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Today, the City's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events held a reenactment of the August 15, 1967 unveiling of the Picasso statue that sits in Daley Plaza. Although a major tourist attraction, as well is should be, Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate has usurped the Picasso's stature with city residents and visitors. Personally, I prefer the Picasso, which includes many classic Picasso motifs folded into its Cor-Ten steel outline and shapes.
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This photograph was shot from the third floor outdoor bar at the Chicago Loews Hotel in Streeterville, looking southwest to the famed London Guarantee & Accident Building on the south shore of the Chicago River at the intersection of Michigan and Wacker. The bar, dubbed Streeterville Social, is a nice place to hang on a warm summer night. We visited it after seeing Kathryn Bigelow's outstanding film, Detroit, at the nearby cineplex. We were seated on a coach under a large umbrella. The corn, pepper and mushroom flatbread, mussels, and watermelon feta salad were all excellent, as was the margarita.
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Sometimes your best shot is behind you, which was the case today (and maybe everyday in the case of this location). Standing at the foot of glass tower, I looked up, discovering the reflective qualities of its skin. The partitioned mirrors serve to compress the six blocks of riverscape to the east. Even better, the mirrors create wavy distortion. A great take on the riverscape.
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Double ecstasy might be a malt and fries from McDonald's, or something else. If you are lucky, it might be both. Lollapalooza is in town for its annual four-day run in Grant Park, so the streets are filled with suburban kids in J. Crew and NBA gear, as well as investment bankers who can afford the $6,600 platinum package. Time is the only thing that separates the two.
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The South Loop used to be a rather desolate place, but Columbia College, DePaul University, Roosevelt University, and Jones College Prep have changed brighten the area. With all those students, there is plenty of cheap eats and urban funk. There is even a hostel, offering cheap and clean rooms--J. Ira & Nicki Harris Family Hotel, which is also known as Hi Chicago.
Photographer's Note. I didn't have my technical camera with me, so convergence was an issue. Fortunately I had a rather long lens (110mm). I find that convergence becomes less of a problem when using longer lens.
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It is probably no longer politically correct to refer to an institution for people with mental health issues as a bughouse, but the "Bughouse Square" nickname for Washington Square Park was an attempt to capture some of the craziness that came with the eccentrics and expressive orators who took park in debates and other public forums the park during the early decades of the last century. Bughouse was then the slang for what would later generations would refer to as the looney bin or Cuckoo's Nest.
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The 3-acre Washington Square Park sits just south of the Newberry Library. The American Land Development Company donated the land to the City of Chicago in 1842 for a public park. It hoped to make the area more attractive for high-end residential development. While its intentions were good, the Company probably never envisioned that the park would be a center for boisterous vocal debate, attracting what today might be described as left-wingers and Occupy Wall Street types. The resulting racket probably was not the first preference of local residents.
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The Newberry Library is holding its annual book fair this weekend. There are somewhere around 130,000 books, records, and related items for sale. I have to say, book fairs are not my thing, maybe because we already have too many books and records in our house. Despite my reservations, the fair is a big deal. I arrived shortly after the 10AM opening. The first floor was already packed, with people looking for bargains and gems.
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The photographer takes the Tiffany Dome in the Chicago Cultural Center's Preston Bradley Hall as he or she finds it. The 38-foot in diameter dome has been lit by natural light since its restoration in 2008.
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Pictured is a sculpture that adjourns the City and County Building. Analogous to Certs--Two Mints In One--the Cook County Main Administration building is combined with Chicago's City Hall in an 11-story, Greek-styled building designed by Chicago architectural powerhouse Holabird & Root.
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150 North Riverside Plaza opened for occupancy earlier this year. It sits above the Amtrak rail lines feeding into Chicago's Union Station. The building is a visual delight, perched on single leg, with the east and west sides moving out on the diagonal, and then jutting straight up. Will it tip?
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Photographers always find new opportunities whenever a new building is completed. 150 North Riverside Plaza provides many opportunities given the elevated public space in back of the building and the promenade running along the Chicago River. Once it opens, the Starbucks may also offer some interesting opportunities, but that will depend on the depth of the outlet.
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Last year at this time, the building under construction at 150 North Riverside Plaza had not yet topped out. The plaza abutting the Chicago River was filled with building materials and construction equipment, with steel and glass being hoisted by a crane. I have photographs to prove it.
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Helmut Jahn's State of Illinois Building is in a state of disrepair. Chicago Tribune architectural columnist Blair Kamin points to rusted columns, chipped paint, and duct tape holding faded carpets together. There is also the smell of fast food grease wafting through the atrium from the food court on the lower level. All of this mirrors the State of Illinois' budget crisis, which will continue to plague the state despite the band-aid tax increase signed into law ten days ago by Governor Bruce Rauner.
Unfortunately, but appropriately, Jean Dubuffet's Monument with Standing Beast, which is located at the building's southeast corner, is in similar disrepair. The 10-ton sculpture has faded in parts from white to cigarette-finger yellow. It appears to be chipped, with parts of it covered in graffiti, which serves as another example of why we can't have nice things.
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Ah, yes, we all remember being a kid and partaking in the joys of summer. No school, so head down to the Daley Plaza, and then use the Picasso statue as a slide.
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I headed over to the Chicago Cultural Center today intent on photographing the Tiffany Glass dome that sits above the Preston Bradley Hall. This is the dome that has the star power because it is believed to be the world's largest Tiffany dome. At 11:00AM the light was perfect, with the sun not quite directly overhead. Unfortunately, the hall was closed for an event--high school students.
