Another Chicago Skyscraper Sign Controversy

Regulations crafted in the wake of the Trump sign controversy of 2014 could be relaxed to let Salesforce leave its mark on the city of Chicago's skyline.

1 minute read

September 25, 2018, 9:00 AM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Trump Sign

Aneta Waberska / Shutterstock

The 20-foot-tall letters spelling 'T-R-U-M-P' on the city’s second-tallest building prompted Chicago aldermen four years ago to regulate the installation of large signs on office buildings, according to an article by Ryan Ori.

"Now, Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to tweak that ordinance to help secure a huge expansion by software firm Salesforce in a new riverfront skyscraper," adds Ori. Mire details on the proposed Salesforce development are included in the article.

Draft sign regulations were released by the Chicago Planning Department last week, and expected for review by the City Council shortly after.

Blair Kamin, the Chicago Tribune architecture critic and Pultizer Prize winner who got in a very public spat with Donald Trump in 2014 over the sign adorning the Trump International Hotel and Tower above the Chicago River, followed up the news of the proposed sign plans with a column looking for perspective on the issue.

Wondering if the Salesforce Tower sign will become a repeat of the Trump debate, Kamin offers the following: "There are more important things to worry about, like the design quality of the riverfront tower that the San Francisco-based software giant could occupy and the public spaces at its base."

Wednesday, September 19, 2018 in Chicago Tribune

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