New construction slated for the Poetry Foundation in River North.

The Poetry Foundation, designed by Chicago’s John Ronan Architects, is slated to begin construction sometime soon at its new location on the Southwest corner of Dearborn and Superior Streets.  The Foundation’s new office is slated to open in June 2011 and will be one of a few actual places devoted to the advancement of poetry in the United States.

You go…Poetry Foundation!  I suppose I never would have thought poetry needed a building to advance itself but if the building turns out like these photos, advance away.  I love the contrast of the black, sleek, modern look next to the older buildings that are made from stone and concrete. 

Check out a nice article from the Poetry Foundation’s website by clicking HERE!

Old Colony Building getting a bath for the first time in 200 years…

A big thank you is needed for ArchitectureChicagoPLUS for its article and pictures on Chicago’s Old Colony Building.  I honestly thought the Old Colony Building was meant to be that dark black color but turns out, it’s actually a very light gray stone.  The difference between clean and unclean is disgusting, and I guess amazing all in one.  Take a look for yourselves!  I’ll have to take a trip down there to get a look in person.

What the Old Colony Building SHOULD look like…

Window shopping along Milwaukee Avenue

When taking a walk around my new neighborhood, I stopped and noticed this odd but pretty cool window on the top floor of an old building.  They don’t build them like they used to do they?  Oh, and my bad for the blurry picture.  I don’t know what I was doing when I took this…I thought I got a really clear picture of the window.

Rentals in River West at the River West Lofts.

River West Lofts, located at 925 W. Huron Street, offers 28 floor plans including studios, one bedrooms, one bedrooms with den, and two bedroom lofts.  River West Lofts also has amenities such as a 24-hour fitness center and a penthouse clubroom with a wood burning fireplace and wet bar.  There is also a rooftop deck that is furnished with bistro tables and lounge chairs and surrounded by plantings.  Gas grills and an open air shower are also located on the rooftop deck.  I don’t really know what the point of having a shower on the roof is, I just figure people can take the elevator down to their loft and use their own shower…I’m just old fashioned I guess.  Overall, I love this building and those windows are amazing.  I have always wanted to have windows like that in my place.  The one bedroom apartment shown below is the most affordable apartment that rents for $1325/month.

Architectural Detail of the Merchandise Mart in River North.

Below is a close up exterior shot of the Merchandise Mart taken from Kinzie Street in Chicago’s River North neighborhood.  The Merchandise Mart was, for quite some time, the worlds largest office building until it was surpassed by The Pentagon.  To throw out some impressive numbers, the 25 story Mart covers two full city blocks and has 4M square feet of space.  All in all, 29M bricks were used in construction, and after a lengthy renovation, the Merchandise Mart now has LEED silver certification.  The first two floors of the Merchandise Mart also has many impressive home showrooms…for me, it’s a lot of look but no touch because I am not one to buy a $75K kitchen…maybe one day.

Architectural detail in River North across from the Merchandise Mart.

To start off my impromptu walk around downtown, I got off at the Merchandise Mart “el” stop and walked West on Kinzie Street.  Across from the Merchandise Mart is a bunch of old, brick buildings that have been converted to some high-end home furnishing stores, restaurants, and condos.  Check out the brick, stone, and even metalwork on this building which is located around 210 W. Kinzie Street.  Pretty cool.

Old school details

Ok, back to some more of the ole’ double decker bus tour pictures. These pictures show off some of the amazing details, of the Hilton Chicago located at 720 S. Michigan Avenue, that I WISH were used in new construction.  I do realize that new construction buildings can have a lot of details, but to me, most don’t even compare to the good old buildings.