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2003 NB
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In
just about any other major American city, this building would be heralded
for its innovative design and embraced as a signature of the skyline. But
standing in the heart of Chicago (literally: Bank One's back door is a
block from State and Madison, which lies zero-zero on the city's address
grid), surrounded by historical beauties and recent experiments, Bank One
seems far too ordinary to have such a prominent place in the birthplace
of the skyscraper (it's Chicago's ninth tallest building, the tallest within
the actual loop of elevated train tracks). Its color is too drab, its structure
too blocky, its windows too suffocated by the building's swollen outer
bones for the building to earn accolades in a city that holds high standards
for architectural immortality. The sloping sides at Bank One's base--which
sweep from a width of 200 feet at the base to 95 throughout the straight
upper shaft--are a neat trick, one that allows you to take cool "bending
building" pictures like the ones at left. But it's too simple a trick to
stay fresh after a few viewings; the building gets more boring with every
glance, in a city whose ten best buildings get more interesting the more
you look. The design may be unique, probably even better than mediocre,
but it's disappointing to be merely good in a city that can be so great.
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