One South Lantern

This last weekend was "Fall preview" for some major papers. Extending this TV- and movie-theme to architecture, Nicholai Ouroussof weighs in with his picks while our own Blair Kamin flexes his powers of prognostication.

One of the Tribune architecture critic's picks is One South Dearborn, a 40-story office building designed by Rick Keating and Jim DeStefano that sits next to Inland Steel that's set to open in November. Kamin mentions the "distinctive top: A large, windowlike opening, carved into the upper portion of the building's glass wall...[that] glows like a lantern at night."

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More construction photos can be found at Emporis.

Comments

  1. How will the glow be different from the effect of simply leaving all of the lights on on several floors? I haven't read anything yet to convince me that this will be much different. (That doesn't mean I think it's a bad idea, because I love nighttime lighting even when done simply.)

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  2. I believe the large "windowlike opening" covers the mechanical penthouse/cooling towers, so its illumination will most likely be controlled to give a consistent and stronger look than the floors below. It looks like a sandblasted glass, so that should help too.

    It all remains to be seen how effective it is at night, though the strong effect during the day (such as in this photo) means it won't be limited to nighttime hours.

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  3. It will be a soft glow, projected from behind the screen. It should be a very nice effect, without being overdone. A more interesting feature of the screen, though, is that the base of the screen frames balconies that open on the East and West sides of the building from a large conference room (the building will be the world headquarters of a major international law firm). So, the screen will provide outdoor lighting for users of the conference room's balconies as well as contributing to the skyline.

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