Hotel Cool in the Gold Coast at State and Rush Street. Lame name, cool building.

Like the title says, I’m not a fan of the name but it’s safe to assume the name is very very preliminary.  I’m also not normally a fan of modern architecture but lately, I’ve been getting tired of Chicago’s boxy, beige, and bland new construction buildings that have been going up.  Granted, this proposed hotel IS boxy, but one out of three makes it fine.  I found the proposed Hotel Cool, designed by Laurence Booth of Booth Hansen, on The Burnham Plan Centennial website.  The website states:  “Urban hotels make visiting Chicago exciting and enlivening. While corridors and rooms provide the function, public spaces create the experience. Hotel Cool Chicago builds the rooms to form a large, high public space and garden on the second level, creating fresh views of the surrounding city. Bringing an ever-changing cast of characters together in a dynamic, energetic gathering room will keep people returning.”

What do you guys think of it?

Proposed Hotel Cool Chicago

GREEN ROOF ALERT! Urban paradise on top of the 900 Shops on Michigan Avenue!

Hoerr Schaudt Landscape Architects turned the 14,000 square foot rooftop of the 900 Shops, located at 900 N. Michigan Avenue, into a pretty awesome eco-friendly retreat that was awarded with the 2008 Green Roof Award of Excellence.  The green roof is completely modular, or in very basic terms separated into “trays” of soil and plants.  900’s green roof is composed of hardy, low-maintenance plants like grasses, tall verbena, phlox and nodding onion, which are arranged into different patterns so not only is it cool from the roof itself, but it gives a pretty cool view from the floors above.  This green roof was also designed to incorporates small trees, including Japanese tree lilacs and cranberry cotoneaster.  An outdoor patio was built with recycled concrete and sustainable, toxin-free ipe wood.  To polish off the look, pergolas were built to house the seating and dining areas.  This green roof is the epitome of what I love about the idea of a green roof.  Not only do you have the amazing city views from a completely livable area outside, the green roof helps keep the 900 Shops insulated from the elements and reduces rain runoff.  Benefits to all I say!

 

 

New photos of the replacement for the old Ogden School in the Gold Coast.

Located at 24 W. Walton Street in Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, Ogden School will be closing not because the school is performing badly, but because the Ogden School is receiving a $60M construction project.  The new Ogden School will be a state of the art facility with underground parking, rooftop recreational areas, and a large area devoted to a green roof. 

Current school.

With around 400 students, Ogden School students will temporarily move to a school close to the Cabrini Green housing projects, an area that has seen an extensive amount of development and gentrification in the past few years.  The choice to move the temporary school close to the housing projects has, no doubt, ruffled quite a few feathers.

Looking Northeast.

Looking Northeast.