CHICAGO | The Ritz-Carlton Residences | 495 FT / 151 M | 40 FLOORS | COM - Page 27

harryc · #**521** Posted **Dec 15, 2011, 5:25 PM**

george · #**522** Posted **Dec 15, 2011, 6:06 PM**

Good one, I like the way the light catches the crown.^

Rizzo · #**523** Posted **Dec 15, 2011, 6:56 PM**

Hmmmm, those louvers.... I'm not sure about those.

the urban politician · #**524** Posted **Dec 15, 2011, 7:57 PM**

What's up with the half assed ornamentation?

Is there something that isn't dumbed down with this building? Heck, how about some more detailed design in the ornaments?

patriotizzy · #**525** Posted **Dec 15, 2011, 9:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

What's up with the half assed ornamentation?

Is there something that isn't dumbed down with this building? Heck, how about some more detailed design in the ornaments?

Couldn't have said it better myself. Developers knew how to make their buildings pretty back in the day.

insanenuyawka · #**526** Posted **Dec 15, 2011, 10:44 PM**

I thought highly of the Ritz-Carlton group up until this building came around.

george · #**527** Posted **Dec 15, 2011, 11:35 PM**

I'm not a fan of going off on negative rants, but the crown is where this tower really falls short. The ornamentation up there verges on repugnant. It's awkward and clumsy. I'm not sure it's entirely finished. Are those louvers intended to be covered? The tacked on silver panels and finials are ridiculous. Better choices would have made such a difference... IMO, I'll stop there.

Alliance · #**528** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 12:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by george

This photo (subject matter) make me want to vomit.

J_M_Tungsten · #**529** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 1:06 AM**

^^^ it looks like Legoland.

lawfin · #**530** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 2:08 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician

What's up with the half assed ornamentation?

Is there something that isn't dumbed down with this building? Heck, how about some more detailed design in the ornaments?

it really is banal disney-esque amusement park ersatz design

chicubs111 · #**531** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 2:13 AM**

really sad..even a ultra luxury tower in Chicago cant even have a luxury design?... for one of the modern architecture capitals of the world ive notice Chicago produces alot of crappy buildings..speckled with an average to an occasioinal great building..

spyguy · #**532** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 4:09 AM**

Look at the west side of the Farwell building in george's photo:

Quote:

Originally Posted by george

12-12

Compare that to a Bing aerial of the old Farwell:

How is that even remotely accurate? And this half-assed "preservation" job was approved by the pre-Rahm landmarks commission. Kinda scary.

tommaso · #**533** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 9:31 AM**

Look. We know the name of the game here is: flip a quarter to the sky and may a dollar land on my thigh! I am not advocating building architecture that is inherently capitalizing only for the investor. Quite contrarily, I firmly support the capitalization of architecturally majestic structures for the profit of the investors. Certainly, we struggle to reconcile the two ideas which shouldn't necessarily conflict.

Why can we not built a beautiful structure that the investor can monetarily capitalize on? Do we really need to ask this question or is there a more poignant question to ask? For instance, should we have a vastly stronger architectural review board that would be specifically task forced to protect and enhance first class real estate such as that of the Michigan Mile? Who is protecting the public's interest here and why can the average citizen not have even a minimal input on the final product of massive real estate developments, some of which affect our daily experience such as this Ritz?

Furthermore, has our sense of duty to the public eroded to the point where we now only recognize the beauty of a sound financial investment even to the detriment of our neighbors, more specifically to those of whom will experience the Ritz and its architecture daily? Are we only pawns in this arms race to produce the greatest ROI at the expense of denying the public of architecture of redeeming quality, structures of such luxury brands which should enhance the beauty of their environment through the medium of style in a graceful manner?

Tom Servo · #**534** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 9:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicubs111

really sad..even a ultra luxury tower in Chicago cant even have a luxury design?... for one of the modern architecture capitals of the world ive notice Chicago produces alot of crappy buildings..speckled with an average to an occasioinal great building..

Yeah, it sucks. Hopefully developers in this town will realize that more and more people are starting to notice importance of quality architecture... er, fuck it, DECENT architecture. Or maybe the better architecture firms in the city need to get better at winning bids.

In any event, here's to hoping...

This picture is kind of sick... it manages to capture the absolute cartoonish nature of such AWFUL design. All four are simply clownishly bad... The problem with all these buildings is that they have little to no negative impact at ground level, so in the end, we all forget about how bad they are... That is, once they're filled with tenants and the scaffolding cleared, they seem to blend into the urban fabric and vanish from our disdain. oh, well...

george · #**535** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 10:41 PM**

You guys are really giving my picture a complex, ha.^

marcopolo 2.0 · #**536** Posted **Dec 16, 2011, 11:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by J_M_Tungsten

^^^ it looks like Legoland.

ardecila · #**537** Posted **Dec 17, 2011, 7:28 AM**

Well, at least they got the steel-framed windows right. That merits some sort of faint praise.

South Side · #**538** Posted **Jan 5, 2012, 2:59 PM**

Tommy Bahama will be the first retail tenant taking 4000 square ft

Duck From NY · #**539** Posted **Jan 6, 2012, 4:38 AM**

The bottom floors don't look so bad. It seems they felt that the higher up it is, the cheaper materials they can use.

P.S. I couldn't find anything about those developments that were supposed to go up at a Post Office site in Chicago.

Rizzo · #**540** Posted **Jan 6, 2012, 6:06 AM**

The Greenway Parking garage on Kinzie will likely have more granite. I'm serious!

It's a parking garage!!!

FYI the post office thread can be found here. Used to be in proposals.
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=192697