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2003 NB
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The
Sofitel Hotel introduces a touch of Paris to this stretch of Rush Street.
In a bold but tender addition to its brick surroundings, the Sofitel swoops
and slices into the sky with a shimmering glassy touch. Designed by Paris
architect Jean-Paul Viguier, the white wedge distinguishes itself from
its mostly nondescript neighbors without dominating them. The hotel is
introduced perfectly by the tiny triangular park and fountain framed by
Rush, Wabash, and Chestnut Streets--one of downtown Chicago's best places
to sit. Viewed from the west on State Street, it snugly frames the Hancock
Tower. The Sofitel is a rare triumph in innovative design amid the recent
blanket of blandness across the Near North Side. -NB
Blair Kamin:
The new Sofitel
Chicago Water Tower, a 415-room, 33-story hotel that sits two blocks west
of the John Hancock Center ... is a stunning geometric exercise, a perfect
marriage of Chicago boldness and French elan. Not only does the building's
knifelike southern end slice through space like the prow of a ship. It
also tilts outward -- and narrows -- as it rises, so its acutely angled
top extends an eye-grabbing 33 feet over the sidewalk. Call it "the Leaning
Tower from Paris," and credit Parisian architect Jean-Paul Viguier for
one of the finest commercial buildings done here since the curving green
office building at 333 W. Wacker Drive rewrote the rules of skyscraper
design nearly 20 years ago.
-from "Eyeful
Tower," Chicago Tribune, May 29, 2002
-More
about the Sofitel from ChicagoHotelsandGuide.com
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