Future Home.

In just a few months I'll be here! The alacrity is building...

Three Weeks Away!

Continuing with my tradition of wasting time and forgoing schoolwork, Greg Benz has new photos of Minneapolis. Great work, as always.



This next photo is so warm, even though it was taken in the middle of winter. The colors are so tranquil and inviting.



My Minnesota Spring Break is just a bit away! Can't wait! :-)

Chicago Spire Put on Hold.

Bad news for Chicago. Due to a slowing economy and multiple lawsuits (including Architect Santiago Calatrava), the Chicago Spire is pushing back development an entire year.

In One Month.

I'll be here.


Click to enlarge

I chose this photo because it's one of the rare photos of Chicago taken from this angle where you see my favorite building, 77 West Wacker. It's frequently forgotten compared to the Goliaths of Chicago: The Sears Tower, Trump Tower and Hancock Tower. But I just adore it. (It's the building four skyscrapers to the left of the Smurfit-Stone Nuilding, which is the skyscraper with the diamond outlining the roof. 77 West Wacker has a big red light on the top of a neo-classical style pediment).

New Skyscraper in Minneapolis?

The Nicollet on the Mall. It would be one of the tallest skyscraper in Minneapolis. Mixed-use with residential, commercial and retail space. It would be in the heart of the city, center of the city, middle of everything. Only question is...is it actually coming?



From my understanding, ground has not been broken for it. Also, on the skyscraper's website, there hasn't been a "news" update in nearly two years--same thing for the blog. So I e-mailed the sales associate and I'll hopefully find out the info. But until then, enjoy their website! :-)



*UPDATE* So I heard back from the Sales associate. The Nicollet is going through a redesign and it should break ground in 2010. Considering the market, 2013 is a reasonably expectation for this skyscraper.

New York Lights.

Here's an interesting article and video talking about the dimming skyline of New York. As the city goes more green, the skyline only grows more black.

Gone are the days when cheap electricity, primitive lighting technology and landlords’ desire to showcase their skyscrapers kept floor after floor of the city’s highest towers glowing into the night. Now, rising energy costs, conservationism, stricter building codes and sophisticated lighting systems have conspired to slowly, often imperceptibly, transform Manhattan’s venerable nightscape into one with a gentler glow.

Instead of tower after tower shining at all hours — the World Trade Center stayed aglow long after its occupants went home — the skyline is becoming a patchwork of sparsely sparkling buildings decorated with ornamentally lighted tops.

“The tall tower with the illuminated floors on all night long is probably a thing of the past,” said Randy Sabedra, the owner of RS Lighting Design, who is helping to create a new map of the city’s most prominently lighted buildings. “You’re not relying on the glowing floors to have the building presence. It is relying on the crown of light.”

There are a lot of pretty shots of New York. For the video, scroll down and it's on the left side of the page. Good stuff.

Nifty Slideshow.

You like tall buildings? Well, here are the 20 tallest buildings in the world, presented in a nifty slideshow. Visuals=WAAY COOLZ!!!

77 West Whacker.

Height impresses me, but beauty inspires me.



This is not only my favorite building in Chicago, it is my favorite building in the world. I adore everything about it.

(Photo by Krzysztof Makara)

Update from The Windy City.

Yes, I'm in Chicago. Yes, I brought a camera. No, I don't have a way to upload the photos.


...sigh. I'll get them up here, eventually. In my recent move I lost the cord that connects my camera to my computer, and those things are not too easy to find. I'll figure out how to load photos, eventually.


I will let you know that the Trump Tower looks AMAZING! I remember on one of my first trips to Chicago they had just begun to build it, and now it's such a feeling of near-liberation to watch it come to completion. There will be a "topping ceremony" on September 24th where they put the remaining windows into the building and dub it complete. As of now, though, the hotel is already opening and functioning, and the majority of the building is finished.


The Trump International Hotel and Tower is now the second tallest building in The United States, coming in only after Chicago's Sears Tower. With its spire it stands at 1,362 feet. Prior to the Trump Tower, the AON Center was the second tallest building in Chicago at 1,170 feet.


I'm on my way to check the grounds of the Chicago Spire. Once completed, it will be the tallest building in the United States at 2000 feet and the second tallest building in the world.