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Comments & Awards for the new Hyatt Center
This page will evolve over the coming weeks and months as comments come in from journalists, civic leaders, educators, architects and ordinary citizens — on why the Hyatt Center is good for Chicago or just general statements about the building. You are invited to submit your comments by clicking here.
From Blair Kamin
Chicago Tribune Architecture Critic
July 10, 2005
"The tower's curving walls of steel and glass lend it a distinct skyline presence, making it seem like a ship cutting through space. But it really excels at ground level, where its curves open its narrow, blocklong site to a small but artfully composed public plaza that has instantly established itself as a serene oasis amid the dense commercial canyon of South Wacker Drive."
"The design reveals how architects can deftly layer security features into their buildings rather than letting the need to fortify overrun the desire to beautify. And while its curves appear to be a heretical departure from the relentless right angles of Chicago's street grid and skyline, the skyscraper actually fits into the city's vaunted tradition of hard-nosed, but high-quality, commercial design."
"...a distinguished contribution to the Chicago skyline and to the broader culture."
“This building is an elegant addition to Chicago, not "faux French" nor a brutal irruption, but tasteful, graceful, respectful of its surroundings, and requiring a fresh look at the city around it. The sneaky and classy introduction of contemporary art, with Keith Tyson's lobby piece, is a great touch--it says look to the future, not to the past (but don't panic, we will be just fine!)”
Robert Fitzpatrick
Director, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
“The Hyatt Center, with its distinctive pointed-oval form, is a great addition to the Chicago Skyline. Henry Cobb and Global Hyatt must be complimented on their elegant building. The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s slogan is “The City is our Museum.” Hyatt Center is a wonderful addition to our collection.”
...Lynn Osmond, President
The Chicago Architecture Foundation
Named “Best New Commercial Building” in Chicago by the Friends of Downtown organization
Two awards at the Chicago Commercial Real Estate Awards Dinner in March of 2005
Hyatt Center named “Best Development of the Year”
Higgins Development Partners, LLC and Pritzker Realty Group named “Best Developers of the Year”
“The Hyatt Center is a striking new highrise that encourages all who view to think about the nature of skyscrapers and all that they can contribute the city, its skyline, and to the pedestrians who walk by at street level. This new building is successful on so many levels!”
| ...Martha Thorne |
| Architecture Curator |
| The Art Institute of Chicago |
" The Hyatt Center's appeal comes from one defining gesture: its unconventional approach to a full "through block" site that spans from Wacker to Franklin. The building's entries are off of each of those streets, with the bow-arch of the building's lozenge shape making a generous gesture to the urban life on Monroe Street. Thus the lobby, while shielded for security purposes, still participates with the life on the street. Additionally, the site's corners, left open as urban plazas, offer a break to the usual and relentless "maximum build-out" developer approach; by stepping back from the site's two outside corners, this building gives a lot to the city's inhabitants.
As well, it gives unconventional interiors to its tenants. The bow-arch plan offers a new orientation to the city beyond one's office. Views are diagonal across the rectilinear grid of the city, so one looks out to unusual vistas, liberated from confronting another tower wall immediately opposite one's office window. This expansive reach puts the occupant into a more inspiring relationship with the city, I would guess, while relieving the monotony of an endless corridor stretching parallel to the city street-grid.
The spatial modulation of the entry sequence, the art-work and vertical thrust of the initial entry lobbies, and the universal accessibility accommodations are further attributes of the Hyatt Center, as are the careful choice of materials, the way the curtain wall meets the inside floor surface, and the Hyatt organization's commitment to the city of Chicago through this gift of a building.
We thought so highly of this building's potential that my co-instructors (Ed Uhlir and Rob Jones) assigned it as one of our "Contemporary Chicago Buildings: Case Studies" in my seminar of this spring 2005 semester. It was a great success, demonstrating many edifying solutions and innovations from its architecture, its urban planning and its enterprising owners, who participated actively with Harry Cobb to make a not lavish but very generous building that shows that the right intellects can operate modestly towards very successful ends: thoughtful architecture can offer a significantly better urban and work experience."
Donna Robertson - Dean of the College of Architecture at Illinois Institute of Technology
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