Chicago

There is one thing I love about my job - I love to travel and since I am from Chicago, and a bunch of my projects are located there right now, I actually get to go "home" (even though I was only working this trip, it is still home to me!) once in a while.

In Semester 1, we wrote often about our favorite city - guess which city I picked?  Then there is my all-time favorite building - the Hancock Tower on Michigan Avenue (above).  From the observation center at the 98th floor, you can actually see portions of four states - Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin.  Fascinating! 

Along State Street there are tons of historic and famous buildings - one of the standouts is the Sullivan Building (above), built over 100 years ago and recently renovated.  Louis really outdid himself.  The ironwork is exquisite and the rotunda is awe-inspiring.  Carson Pirie Scott moved out in 2007, and the department store floors have been empty now for almost four years. 

The Red Line subway runs right under State Street.  If you take it a few miles to the north, it comes out right next to the Target that opened on the north side @ Wilson Yard last summer.   For obvious reasons (think bullseye) I get a kick out of the fact that the Red Line leads to one of my projects.  By the time it gets up north, it is an elevated (or "el") train rather than a subway.  We have a 200+ foot long "spangleboard" billboard on the back.  When the trains breeze past, the spangles sparkle in the sun. 

I have traveled to New York relatively frequently over the past 5 years as well as to Chicago.  When I think about subways - in the US and in Paris (the only European city I have spent any time in), the entrances into the subterranean spaces are sometimes inviting and whimsical, but then you get down into the dirty, heavily scented spaces below ground.  Can you imagine if the actual subway passenger spaces were kept up more like an airport or even a public park space.  Would it still work?  Would it ruin the idea of public transportation for some and invite others to participate?

Consider the various back stories of typical subway riders.  There's the guy/girl who will only drink bottled water and stay in the fancy hotels and go to spas for hot stone massage treatments; and they are sitting next to a guy/girl who luckily found $1 on their way to the station so they did not have to panhandle for money to take the train home.  And then there are the people like us.  It's always fun to ride the subway or take the EL in Chicago and other cities - part of the draw is the amazing variety of people that you interact with along the way.