Slice of Life: Skyscraper Sunrise

The sun peeks out over Lake Michigan and illuminates the skyscraper forest of Chicago on an early morning.  From this vantage point, several buildings clearly stand head and shoulders above the rest:

• Trump International Hotel and Tower (401 North Wabash Street)
• Willis Tower (233 South Wacker Drive)
• 300 North LaSalle (300 North LaSalle Drive)
• The Park Tower (800 North Michigan Avenue)

Why no 100-story John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue) in the photograph?  Because it was taken from the John Hancock Center.

Pix: How Chicago Skyscrapers Marked Earth Hour

Last night, many places around the world dimmed their lights to mark Earth Hour, an even organized by the World Wildlife Fund.  I've posted a few photos below.  Last year, participation by Chicago buildings was spotty.  This year was better, though there were still a few hold-outs.

Among those I could see going dark:

• Navy Pier, except for its ferris wheel still blazing into the night (600 East Grand Avenue)
• The John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue)
• Willis Tower (233 South Wacker Drive)
• Aon Center (200 East Randolph Street)
• Marriott Chicago Downtown Magnificent Mile (540 North Michigan Avenue)
• The Park Tower (800 North Michigan Avenue)
• Grand Plaza (540 North State Street)
• 55 East Erie (55 East Erie Street)
• NBC Tower (200 East Illinois Street)
• Chase Tower (10 South Dearborn Street)
• The Clare at Water Tower (55 East Pearson Street)

I assume that the Wrigley Building and Tribune Tower participated because they participate in most everything.

The Marriott always has trouble with its sign, so it ended up darkening some of the letters early in the evening (spelling out "Mot").

Trump International Hotel and Tower was also dark, but not for the occasion.  In spite of what the Chicago Tribune reported, it does not light up at night at all, so this was one of the few occasions when it actually looked appropriate in the night skyline.

Some buildings didn't join in:  

• Millennium Centre (33 West Ontario Street)
• 300 North LaSalle (300 North LaSalle Drive)
• 353 North Clark (353 North Clark Street)
• The Hyatt Regency Chicago (151 East Wacker Drive)
• Museum Park (1215 South Prairie Avenue)
• The Fordham (25 East Superior Street)
• Millennium Park (337 East Randolph Street)

As you can see in the photos below, 300 and 353, and the Hyatt are the brightest things in the Chicago skyline, and conspicuous for their illumination when all of their neighbors have gone dark. As always, you can click to enlarge the pictures and see the offenders.

Chicago: City of Spires

Prague is often referred to as the "City of Spires."  I've been to Prague , and I think Chicago has it beat.

I started thinking about it a couple of days ago when the Chicago Tribune's architecture critic complained about the spire atop the Trump International Hotel and Tower .  He called it little more than a "toothpick."

I'm certainly not going to disagree.  It's a shame of a structure, and a disgrace that it's not illuminated at night like the spires of the Sears Tower and the John Hancock Center .

But there are many other toothpicks in this city of spires, as the photo above illustrates.  One Prudential Plaza may be the earliest examples of such toothpicks.  But at least at the time it served a purpose -- it was a radio and TV transmission antenna.  Trump serves no such purpose.

Looking out my window, other buildings with toothpicks large and small:

• Two Prudential Plaza 
• AT&T Corporate Center (4)
• Grand Plaza (4)
• The Park Tower (4)
• Northwestern University's Feinberg Inpatient Pavilion (2)

If you can think of any others, post them in the comments section below.

Clare Flashing Her Downtown Neighbors (with video)

Although it's open and people are living there, the finishing touches are still being put on The Clare at Water Tower.  The shiny new East Pearson Street skyscraper is home to the Loyola School of Communication downstairs and a retirement community upstairs.

But on the roof there is something new -- obstruction lighting.

The aircraft warning devices were switched on yesterday afternoon (January 20, 2009).  There's four white strobe lights during the day that switch to red blinking beacons at night.  It's a nice addition to the skyline -- if you happen to be viewing the skyline from the suburbs.

But the fact is that The Clare is only 589 feet tall.  That means its strobe lights flash into the homes of hundreds of its neighbors who happen to live in taller structures.  The Park Tower is the closest, but the Residences at the John Hancock Center, the Olympia Centre, Water Tower Place, and the Residences at 900 North Michigan are all seeing the glare.

Here's a video showing the lighting by both day and night (better quality links below).  In the video you can see that the beacons are at a height that's only about half that of The Clare's neighbors.  So why does the new building need the lights at all?

Maybe it has to do with the new Children's Memorial Hospital being built down the street.   The hospital plans to fly medical helicopters into the neighborhood, which is crowded with skyscrapers.  But why does The Clare deserve four strobes, when the Park Tower and others lack daytime illumination, yet are hundreds of feet taller, and hundreds of feet closer to the new hospital?

Our guess is that more aggressive beacons will be coming to those buildings, and others, in the future. 

What would be nice is if a feature could be installed where the pilot phones ahead, and an automation system activates the beacons only when they're needed.  Such systems are in common use at small airports across the country.  It could be a way to reach a compromise between the safety of the emergency flights and neighbors living with what looks like an all-night disco outside their windows.

Higher quality: YouTube version of the video .

Highest quality: .Me version of the video .