ParkView West in Chicago

  Scroll down for more pictures  

Click here to upload your photos of ParkView West

• Week Links: May 18, 2012
• Slice of Life: Hollyhock on Patrol
• Slice of Life: Signs of the Zodiac
• Wright in the Sun
• How Not to Camouflage a Skyscraper

More...

• RT @KellyJonesinChi: inconvenience in the south loop today a small price 2 pay 4 being safe in our neighborhood.Thank u CPD! #NATO - Mon, 21 May
• "We're gonna stand here as long as it takes!" -Occupy Chicago spokeschick just before she ran from police. #NATO #Occupy #Lame - Mon, 21 May
• RT @Suntimes: Obama on #NATO: “Why is everybody making such a big fuss? This isn’t as big as Taste of Chicago.” http://t.co/rMMGq16o #NATO - Sun, 20 May
• There are 21 boats with machine guns parked in the Chicago River downtown | The Chicago Architecture Blog http://t.co/6BH66RUd - Fri, 18 May
• Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West now 100% solar powered | The Chicago Architecture Blog http://t.co/WQz3MbDe #architecture #scottsdale #AZ

See more Tweets...

Posted to the Flickr Pool by joshuamellin

Add your photos!

505 North McClurg Court, Chicago, Illinois, Near North Side 60611

← Previous   Random   Next →

Tweet

Print this page   •   Share this page   •   Map This

Text by Wayne Lorentz

A lot of people in the Streeterville neighborhood like to complain about new towers. Sure, they all live in gleaming skyscrapers, but anyone else coming in and building a new one is a bad thing. The construction of ParkView West gave the NIMBYs a lot less to complain about.

The building takes great pains to be in harmony with its neighborhood. The style is sympathetic with other buildings in the neighborhood. With its curved glass facades carved out of square glass planes and masonry accents it even meshes with some of the newer buildings visible across the river at Lakeshore East.

But what should have been a classy design is marred by strange marks running up and down the facade. Closer inspection reveals them to be balconies in yellow and blue perforated metal. Next to the green glass and brown masonry of the building, it creates a Playskool image which might be OK for a rental building with new families, but these homes are for purchase.

More important, however, is the base of the structure. Sure, the colors are a little garish, especially for a residential block, but the podium this building rests upon is long and low -- just two-stories tall and the horizontal emphasis of its lines and windows makes it seem even lower. This helps preserve the increasingly scarce light coming into this corner of the city as the forest of skyscrapers around it grows taller.

But the big feature here is the item for which the building is named -- the park. Its two acres of space are the roof of an underground parking garage. More and more developers are taking note of customer demands for green space in the city and are building park of their own to accommodate those demands, and also to raise property values. In some cases once the developer builds the park it is turned over to the city. This has had mixed results, and its too soon to say what the fate of this park will be. However, one thing is certain -- it will get a lot of use from the thousands of people living in the area searching for some space to breathe.

Rate This Skyscraper

method='post' action='/Building.php?ID=849#Rate'>Current rating: 80%  name='Rating' id='Rating' value='Praise' class='Plain'> name='Rating' id='Rating' value='Raze' class='Plain'>

Nearby Buildings

• City View Condominiums Building Two
• River East Center
• City View Condominiums Building One
• Lake Shore Plaza
• 465 North Park Drive
• 400 East Ohio
• 420 East Ohio
• McClurg Court Center Tower A
• Streeter Place
• 345 East Ohio

Click here to upload your photos of ParkView West

Your Thoughts

There are three comments.

  I like the sleek and simple design of this skyscraper. It'll definitely be a welcome addition.

David Shmuel - Sunday, July 22nd, 2007 @ 5:24pm  

  This building will be a great addition to this area as it is going where I believe there is just a dirty old parking lot. I hope to see more development of this nature in this area and GET RID OF THE UGLY PARKING LOTS already!!! At least put up a nice looking parking garage. Anything is better than a fenced in lot with garbage blowing around in it.

Jimbo - Monday, May 21st, 2007 @ 1:30pm  

  I think this building will be a great addition to Chicago Architecture. I love the design with big glass walls.

David Berry - Friday, March 31st, 2006 @ 2:00pm  

Name:
	Please tell us your name (Example: "Jim W.") It doesn't have to be your real name, but it's more social that way.
E-mail address:
	E-mail address is used for validation only. It will not be displayed. We do not spam.
Your location:	Bermuda Canada Greenland Saint Pierre and Miquelon United States AlandAlbaniaAndorraAustriaBelarusBelgiumBosnia and HerzegovinaBulgariaCroatiaCzech RepublicDenmarkEstoniaFaroe IslandsFinlandFranceGermanyGibraltarGreeceGreenlandGuernseyHungaryHoly SeeIcelandIrelandIsle of ManItalyJerseyKosovoLatviaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacedoniaMaltaMoldovaMonacoMontenegroThe NetherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalRomaniaRussiaSan MarinoSerbiaSlovakiaSloveniaSpainSwitzerlandSvalbard and Jan Mayen IslandsSwedenTurkeyUkraineUnited Kingdom AfghanistanArmeniaAzerbaijanBangladeshBhutanBruneiBurmaCambodiaChinaEast TimorGeorgiaIndiaIndonesiaIranJapanKazakhstanKyrgyzstanLaosMalaysiaMaldivesMongoliaNepalNorth KoreaPakistanPhilippinesRussiaSingaporeSouth KoreaSri LankaTajikistanTaiwanThailandTurkeyTurkmenistanUzbekistanVietnam American SamoaAustraliaChristmas IslandCocos IslandsCook IslandsEast TimorFederated States of MicronesiaFijiFrench PolynesiaGuamKiribatiMarshall IslandsNauruNiueNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsPalauPapua New GuineaPitcairn IslandsSamoaSolomon IslandsTokelauTongaTuvaluVanuatuWallis and Futuna AfghanistanAlgeriaBahrainCyprusEgyptIranIraqIsraelJordanKuwaitLebanonLibyaMoroccoOmanPakistanQatarSaudi ArabiaSyriaTunisiaTurkeyUnited Arab EmiratesYemen AnguillaAntigua and BarbudaArubaBahamasBarbadosBelizeBES IslandsBritish Virgin IslandsCayman IslandsCubaCosta RicaCuracaoDominicaDominican RepublicEl SalvadorGuatemalaGrenadaGuadeloupeHaitiHondurasJamaicaMexicoMartiniqueMontserratNicaraguaPanamaPuerto RicoSaint BarthelemySaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint MartinSaint Vincent and the GrenadinesSint MaartenTrinidad and TobagoTurks and Caicos IslandsUnited States Virgin Islands AlgeriaAngolaBeninBotswanaBurkina FasoBurundiCameroonCape VerdeCentral African RepublicChadComorosDemocratic Republic of the CongoCongoCote d IvoireDjiboutiEgyptEquatorial GuineaEritreaEthiopiaGabonThe GambiaGhanaGuineaGuinea-BissauKenyaLesothoLiberiaLibyaMadagascarMalawiMaliMauritaniaMauritiusMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaReunionRwandaSao Tome and PrincipeSenegalSeychellesSierra LeoneSomaliaSouth AfricaSudanSwazilandTanzaniaTogoTunisiaUgandaZambiaZimbabwe ArgentinaBoliviaBrazilChileColombiaEcuadorFrench GuyanaGuyanaParaguayPeruSurinameUruguayVenezuela
Your rating:	5 Stars * * * * * 4 Stars * * * * 3 Stars * * * 2 Stars * * 1 Star *
Your comments:
Current month (MM):	This helps fight spam bots.
Current year (YYYY):	This also helps fight spam bots.