50 South Sixth in Minneapolis sold

A big skyscraper in Minneapolis has been sold.

Hines REIT picked up 50 South Sixth this week, but isn't talking about how much it spent.  You can read the full press release here:

Another Green Skyscraper in Los Angeles

Got another note from Hines again today letting us know that yet another one of its skyscrapers has been LEED certified.

This time it's the blandly-named 26-story 10100 Santa Monica in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Here's the complete press release:

A Seattle Hines Skyscraper Goes LEED

One of Seattle's more anonymous skyscrapers has a reason to make some noise.  The cumbersomely-named Bank of America Fifth Avenue Plaza has been awarded LEED Gold certification.  The entire press release from Hines follows:

Book Review: Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg's Urban Vision

Note: This review previously appeared in our sister publication, The Chicago Architecture Blog, published July 26, 2010.

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"The Corncob Towers." "The Pie Spires." "Aunt Flo's Curlers." People may not always know what the twin towers on State Street at the Chicago River are called, but they at least know them.  Bertrand Goldberg's penultimate architectural creation, Marina City (300 North State Street), has inspired and amazed a generation of tourists and locals.  Now a new book chronicles how the buildings we see today were shaped, and what went on behind the scenes.

The book is called Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg's Urban Vision (published by Princeton Architectural Press) and its 176 pages are packed with great information about the development of the buildings, starting from inspiration through construction and on to occupation.

Many people don't realize it, but Marina City was Chicago, and America's first downtown revitalization project.  It proved that if you built a city-within-a-city, you could attract people to the urban core where they would live, work, and thrive.  Since then the idea has been copied and expanded in Chicago and around the world.  Today a responsible developer wouldn't think of embarking on a huge project without considering the live+work+play model.  But in the 1960's, a time when suburban cul-de-sac developers and auto dealers were demonizing America's urban cores, this was considered revolutionary.

More than just the story of a building, this book tells the tale of the people behind Marina City -- the deals that had to be brokered, the challenges faced, the hurdles surmounted; with enough politics and intrigue to make this a truly Chicago story.

As someone who travels around the world frequently, whenever I mention Chicago to someone, I cringe in anticipation of the inevitable reference to Al Capone.  But did you know that Marina City was celebrated around the world as a new symbol of Chicago's renaissance?  It was influential enough to supplant Capone as the first notion people had of Chicago.  American Airlines published a guide to Chicago that featured Marina City on its cover.   Even in Cold War-era Moscow, Marina City was known and considered a symbol of the city.

As interesting as all the facts and background material are, it's the photos that really make this book.  Historic pictures and diagrams of Marina City that show it with the old TV tower still on top.  There are pictures of the skyscrapers when they were new and clean, and not festooned with twinkle lights and blow-up dolls as they frequently are now.  Perhaps if today's residents of Marina City read this book, they might treat their home with a little more respect and pride.

If you have even a passing interest in Chicago's history or architecture, I recommend picking this book up.  It's a quick and easy read and contains a lot of good information.

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Details:
Marina City: Bertrand Goldberg's Urban Vision
By Igor Marjanovic and Katerina Rüedi Ray
Published May 26, 2010 by Princeton Architectural Press
176 pages - Paperback
US $35.00, UK £25.00

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Note:
This book was sent to me unsolicited by Princeton Architectural Press.  I have received no monetary or other compensation for this review.  If you would like to send a book for review, contact me at editor@chicagoarchitecture.info and I'll send you the mailing address.

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If you're interested in the book, here's an Amazon.com link allowing you to buy it at a discount. By using this link, you help financially support this web site.

City Scene: Graves' Grave Grave

This is the final resting place of Dexter Graves in Chicago.  It is easily the creepiest gravestone we've ever come across.

City Scene: BP Pedestrian Bridge, Chicago

The BP Pedestrian Bridge snakes across Columbus Drive in Chicago.  The sun glints off its stainless steel scales as the serpentine structure carries pedestrians between Millennium Park and Grant Park.

Chicago's Grocery Store in the Sky

This article is from our sister blog, The Chicago Architecture Blog.  For more information about Chicago and more than 1,000 of its buildings, visit our sister site, Chicago Architecture Info.

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There are a lot of rumors about special places in Chicago that most people don't get to see.   Today I thought I'd demystify one of them.

A lot of what people assume about the residents and residences in the John Hancock Center (875 North Michigan Avenue) is not true.  But some of it is.  For example -- there is an urban legend that the Hancock residents have their own grocery store.  This is true.

It's officially called "Potash Gourmet 44," and is not surprisingly located on the 44th floor of the building.  To access it, you must be a resident of the Hancock Center, or an accompanied guest.  You have to go past the security checkpoint on the ground floor lobby, and then the receptionist on the 44th floor sky lobby.

Down the hallway, past the mail room is the grocery store.  It's larger and better stocked than a convenience store, so it earns its "grocery" title.  The space was entirely gutted and rebuilt in 2008, and has a produce section, a small selection of housewares, health and beauty aides, the usual aisles of canned and boxed goods, a self-service coffee area, and seating so one can admire the view while having a quick nosh.

The most active portion of the grocery store is the deli.  Hancock Center office workers can access the deli via a freight elevator and the back door.  The deli offers the usual selection of sliced meats and cheeses, as well as a choice of hot entrees and sides that change daily.  At one time there was made-to-order pizza, but it wasn't very good and has since been discontinued.

Unfortunately, the grocery store doesn't photograph very well.  In the daylight, you can't see what's in the aisles.  And at night, you can't see out the windows to prove that the store is in the sky.  But I did what I could with these couple of pictures.

Potash Gourmet 44 is undoubtedly the city's highest grocery store.  But is it the world's highest?  It's hard to say.  It is traditional for people in the Chicago area to declare things the "first" (as in mall), "biggest" (as in block party), or some other superlative without it actually being true.  So in the interest of localism, I formally declare Potash Gourmet 44 is the world's highest grocery store.  Challenges are welcome.

Best Use Yet of an Ugly Parking Garage

Parking garages are necessary.  They are also invariably ugly things.  Bury them, hide them behind bushes, clad them in posters and neon, there's still no mistaking the ugliness that is the modern American parking garage.

But in Los Angeles I stumbled across something unexpected.  Sure, it's still ugly, but it is at least unusual.

At the city's John Ferraro Office Building, the roof of the adjacent parking garage is covered in water.  It's a great big fountain!  Does it have any environmental benefit?  Does it mitigate the heat island effect?  What about algae?  I don't know the answers to any of those things.  And as you can tell, there's still a butt-ugly parking garage underneath it.  But the water idea is at least a new one, and the designers should be applauded for original thinking.

• More about the John Ferraro Office Building here.
• More architecture of Los Angeles and the rest of the Southland here.

That Most American of Cities: Chicago?

When the world thinks of a quintessentially American city, which one do you think it thinks of?  New York?  Los Angeles?  How about Chicago?

This is the side of a Korean Air shuttle bus parked outside of the awkwardly-named Grand Ambassador Seoul Associated With Pullman Hotel in Seoul, South Korea.  The bus wrap is a big ad that boils down to "fly Korean Air to America."  And to represent America, there's a picture of the Chicago skyline.

Another reason for the city of big shoulders to stand proud and strong

• Click here to see more than a thousand Chicago buildings at our sister site, Chicago Architecture Info.

The Extinction of the Urban Whale

This placid scene of whales is one that can no longer be seen.

It was painted on the back side of the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago about ten years ago.  Since then, that work of art has been covered up by the construction of a new residential tower called Avenue East, which backs up right into the painting.

I once went to Chicago for a job interview, and the company put me up in this hotel.  I ended up with one of the windows that's part of the mural.  No one will ever be part of that again.

• Click here for more on the InterContinental Hotel in Chicago.
• Click here for photos and information on more than a thousand Chicago buildings.

The Elevated Life: 11 Up

There's something about elevators that I find fascinating.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe because an elevator is like a mechanical "black box" only in reverse -- the magic happens on the outside, while the observer remains inside.

Either way, this begins a series of occasional snapshots from inside elevators around the world for no other reason than I like it.  And maybe there are other people out there who do, as well.

This photo is from an older elevator that has been rehabbed with a new display.  The LEDs are slightly italic, and the up arrow has been specially created for the purpose, rather than being a mish mash of other LED segments.

Interestingly, this elevator actually has an attendant.  Before the days of advanced mechanics and electronics, people were hired to run the elevators.  In some cities and buildings this tradition continues for one reason or another.  Sometimes it's nostalgia. Sometimes it's to add a touch of class.  Unfortunately, in this case it's because of labor unions.

The attendant's position hasn't been needed in this building for decades, but the person cannot be fired because she is in a powerful union.  So, she sits on a stool in the lobby all day long and when someone wants to go up, she pushes the elevator call button.  That's her entire job.  Somehow the union believes that the elevators cannot function without her.  Nevermind that to get back down, the passengers are perfectly able to push the call button on the floors they are on to summon the elevator.

In many scenarios, I am in favor of labor unions.  But in this case, it just makes the unions look greedy and out of touch with reality.

Literal Pittsburgh

A sign on a construction fence points out the obvious to those who need a little help.

HOK Takes Models to the Masses

Architecture firm HOK has opened a "model shop" in downtown Saint Louis.

The shop is in the Millennium Building at 312 North Sixth Street.  While it's a showcase for HOK's work, it's also an actual working facility.

If you're in that portion of the Midwest, stop by for a chance to see master model makers at work.

There are photos at the Count On Downtown web site.

Amazon.com Phase One Completed

Seattle Daily Photo notes that the first phase of the new Amazon.com campus in Seattle's Lake Union neighborhood has been completed.  We've been following the project off and on mostly because of the way it's already helped transform a formerly industrial area of the city into a exploding residential neighborhood.

You can see the completed portion on SDP here.

And here are a couple of our photographs of the project in progress:

MainPlace Tops Out in Houston

If you're interested in what's happening in Houston or Southeast Texas, then HAIF is the best web resourced there is.

Today there's a note and press release about the latest Hines project, MainPlace topping out.

The 46-story skyscraper is the latest building in the revitalization of the city's downtown.

You can read all about MainPlace in this forum thread.

Here's a photo that was posted on the forum:

One Victory Park Greenlit

Got a note from Hines today about One Victory Park in Dallas.  The 17-sotry skyscraper has been granted LEED Silver status.


The full press release follows:

See History in Architecture

Sometimes an architect's job is to hide the past.  For example, to turn an elementary school into a retirement home.  Or to turn a craptastic shack into a beautiful home.

But other times, letting the history of a building shine through is an asset.  Case in point: One Grant Avenue in downtown San Francisco.  This building clearly had a life long before it was turned into an Armani store.

It began its existence as the Savings Union Bank back in 1911, as the city was getting back on its feet after the Great Earthquake and Fire.  Years later, the bank would be absorbed by others and its name passed into history.

Today, the columns and pediments continue to stand strong, as they were intended, to symbolize the eternal strength of the bank that built them.  A bank that is now long gone.

Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis Goes Green

We got a note from the people down at Hines today, letting us know that the iconic Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis has been given LEED-EB Gold status.

• You can read more about the Wells Fargo Center in Minneapolis here.
• And you can click here for more buildings in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area.

The press release follows:

Landmark Chicago Skyscraper Redevelopment Complete

Got a press release today stating that the major renovations at 330 North Wabash are now complete.  You may remember 330 as the Chicago's old IBM Building or One IBM Plaza, Mies Van Der Rohe's massive black slab along the Chicago river that used to loom so menacingly over the Sun-Times building before it was neutered by Donald Trump.

There have been complaints on the internet from people who think the treatment of the lobby has been rather ruthless, but for the 99% of Chicagoand who only see this building from afar, no damage has been done.

The building is interesting to watch at night because the top dozen floors form a black hole in the city's skyline while office lights tinkle and burn in other buildings around them.  It's because that section of the building is being redeveloped as a luxury hotel.  There is no opening date for that hotel yet.  At a public event about six months ago, the developer said he was in no hurry to complete the project, especially considering the state of the economy.

You can see more than a thousand Chicago architecture landmarks at Chicago Architecture Info (our sister site).

The full press release about the redevelopment of 330 North Wabash follows:

Energy Hog Buildings Compete to Become The Biggest Losers

Even if you don't watch a lot of television, you're probably at least familiar with the game show "The Biggest Loser."  Now the U.S. government is holding its own version of the competition.

The EPA is pitting a select group of buildings from around the country against each other to see which ones can save the most energy.

The contestants are:

• 1525 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, Virginia
• 522 Fifth Avenue in New York
• The Courtyard by Marriott Downtown in San Diego
• Crystal River Elementary School in Carbondale, Colorado
• The JCPenney store in Orange, California
• Maplewood Mall in Saint Paul
• The Memorial Arts Building in Atlanta
• The Morrison dorm at UNC in Chapel Hill
• The Sears store in Glen Burnie, Maryland
• The Sheraton hotel in Austin
• Solon Family Health Center in Cleveland
• The Tucker dorm at NC State in Raleigh
• Van Holten Primary School in Bridgewater, New Jersey
• The Virginia Beach Convention Center

The winner gets... bragging rights mostly. Also, they've saved a bunch of energy which is nice.

If all this has you curious,
Here's the web site for the EPA's National Building Competition.
Here's a Twitter link so you can follow the contest.

A press release from Hines about the participation of its 522 Fifth Avenue follows: