Will cable and satellite TV make the massive Cesar Pelli-designed HDTV tower proposed for Chicago's Gold Coast a white elephant? Lynn Becker critiques the Beitler Tower proposal.
"...other than a 400-car parking garage at the bottom and restaurants at the top, [the Beitler project] would be an empty tripod, three huge concrete legs, joined by beams every 10 to 15 stories, that would support three tall antennas at the top... The designer is Cesar Pelli, the usually reliable architect [but] most of his better instincts seemed to have abandoned him...
Simply put, this project is an atrocity [and] it could also quickly become the world's biggest white elephant... The Beitler tower is less a building than a gargatuan piece of infrastructure. Placed amidst the railyards in a city or a suburb, it would be a marvel of engineering. Placed in the heart of Chicago's downtown, it's merely an eyesore."
Thanks to Lynn Becker
Read the full story: 2000-foot-tall Pigeon Roost proposed for Chicago's lakefront
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
Record-breaking wildlife overpass in Colorado brings 91% reduction in animal collisions
Prior to the overpass, vehicles were hitting one deer per day on Colorado’s Interstate 25.
Mamdani sent nearly 6,000 pied-à-terre tax warnings to homes that didn’t qualify
A judge has ordered the administration to cancel thousands of pied-à-terre tax notices after it sent 35% of them erroneously.
Detroit to transform waterfront with $2.2 billion investment
Developers will convert about 18 acres of unused parking lot space into civic spaces.
‘Going backwards:’ Baltimore mayor, students rally against state's transit funding plan
Maryland's proposed six-year plan provides no funding for Baltimore’s BMORE bus program and reduces its road maintenance funding.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA)
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello