River with a View Pt. 1

A photographer (right) looking so inconsequential amid the grandeur of the Chicago River and buildings along it.

There is no city in the world where you can view the most majestic pieces of modern architecture in one place, in a short time, for practically nothing.

Hongkong, Dubai, New York, Sao Paolo, Doha, Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Johannesburg … yes, they have their beautiful buildings and skyscrapers, tall and massive, modern and edgy. Chicago has them too (and many of them, better looking than most) and what more, Chicago’s skyline is one of the most visually stunning skylines in the world. No argument about that, ok, I concede, Hongkong wins in the more stunning skyline contest in my book.

BUT, what Hong Kong and these other cities DON’T have is a CLEAN river that runs through their cities and affords viewers a different way to view their architecture. If you ever are in Chicago, take any one of the different river cruises along the Chicago River (the most accessible among these is the Water Taxi, a functioning form of public transportation that operates from N. Michigan Ave to Chinatown), and experience what I mean. The architects who planned and built the buildings along the river are wise and forward looking – they fully exploited the vagaries of the vagaries of the Chicago river and incorporated them in their designs and engineering.

Take for example, 333 E. Wacker building and 300 S. Riverside Plaza. Both glass houses with green facades. The 333 E. Wacker building follows the curve of the river, mimics its colors, and reflects the building around it. But if you are there in the vicinity in the right moment and season, at sunset, the building is just mag-ni-fi-cent. It is ablaze.

333 E. Wacker on fire (figuratively)

On the other hand, the 300 S. Riverside Plaza, is sort of a mirror of 333 E. Wacker. I don’t know if this is accidental or intentional – they have different architects. Like 333 E. Wacker, 300 S. Riverside follows the curve of the river, but instead of being convex, the curve is concave. The reflections of the buldings on its greenish tinted window glass are wild.

300 S. Riverside Plaza facade as seen from the Chicago River

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 22nd, 2012 at 4:15 pm. It is filed under Photographing the Photographer, Photowalks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.