Photo courtesy of www. Chicagoarchitecture.info.
After reading this morning’s Chicago Tribune, I became aware of the proposed Chicago spire skyscraper project, artist’s rendition above. My first reaction: who wants a giant, twisted phallus amongst the classic architecture of Chicago’s skyline? Sadly, it turns out many people do. Some comments from the above website include, “it will add drama and beauty to the worlds best skyline” and “unique in the world.” The people who made these comments have a valid point. Yes, this building is unique, and any building of its height would obviously add to Chicago’s skyline. But, does a better solution exist to our need of tall, skinny buildings, than Calatrava’s Spire?
Compare the Spire to Calatrava’s other similarly sized 80 South Street residential building for New York City. The American Institute of Architects wrote an article on Calatrava’s work, in which he “likened the structure to ‘a bouquet of flowers’ “. I don’t know about you, but I would much rather have a bouqet of flowers in the Chicago skyline than a modified dildo. Perhaps this is too crude and I am missing his architectural vision. Admittedly, I probably am - the man is a genius, I will give you that; with such awesome works as Milwaukee’s Public Art museum and the Bodegas Ysios Winery in Laguardia, Spain, this is undeniable.
We also must ask ourselves, with ever-increasing populations and decreased land mass to build upon, especially in urban centers like Chicago, how creative can you get with such a small area of land as a base, and necessity of volume for a building’s occupants? Surely architects will come up with fantastic solutions in the future (which will, no doubt, have to be finagled with by angry engineers who are forced to slam the fist of realism on the blueprints of the visionaries struck by the great architecture bug.)
So, I leave the public and urban planning committees to this one. And with the global press preview party today, this building will almost certainly be built - that is unless the “global credit crunch” threatens its funding, as explored by Chicago Tribune writer Susan Diesenhouse. My suggestion for the future: continue to hire visionaries such as Calatrava to design their way through the United State’s urban centers’ land crises, however be sure to provide a public forum in which those who must look across the skyline can participate.
For more information on the Chicago Spire and Santiago Calatrava visit http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek05/tw0527/0527conv_calatrava.htm and http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-wed_spire_0926sep26,0,2106425.story.
