The teen was driving around 4:10 a.m. in the 1700 block of West 47th Street when someone fired shots, police said.

By

Sun-Times Wire

Aug 16, 2021, 5:52am CDT

Read More

We Chicagoans love to boast. We will rhapsodize about our food, music, lakefront, performing arts, corporate headquarters and skyline. Always our skyline.

Our great buildings are civic treasures, but not everything can be a star. Some are designed to be backbenchers or stand as well-intentioned mistakes. But they are not necessarily bad buildings from the point of view of the users or owners. Some are unique and the work of famous architects. They make their own contributions to public space.

Welcome to the world of “ugly buildings” in Chicago. Your guide is Mike McMains, who worked for years in commercial real estate, monitoring a portfolio’s financial vital signs. Along the way, he developed an interest in design and strong opinions about it.

Downsized out of the real estate business, he’s trying to take the “a” out of his avocation, offering public and private architectural tours, some virtual. His newest offering is an “ugly buildings” walking tour of River North, stopping at places that must be seen to be appreciated, and perhaps cannot be unseen. He’s working on an edition focusing on the Loop. Information is at his Tours With Mike website.

“The thing that is so refreshing is that it isn’t a chore,” said McMains, who developed tours for the Chicago Architecture Center as a volunteer docent.

He said he doesn’t ridicule who made bad buildings, except maybe in one instance. “This isn’t a mean tour,” McMains said.

He’ll make fun of things and encourage his patrons to offer rebuttals, but his intent is to provide a better understanding of how buildings relate to people and their surroundings.

“Architecture — the term is not elitist. I’m trying to humanize the conversation and do it in a fun way.”

How do you define an ugly building? It’s “buildings that seemingly don’t have a plan with their exterior to adequately engage the public,” he said. And he’s full of examples for his River North tour.

One is a city landmark at 33 W. Kinzie St., where Harry Caray’s is. Guidebooks describe it as Dutch Renaissance Revival-style, with stepped gables and contrasting colors. Its architect, Henry Ives Cobb, is justly acclaimed. McMains, however, considers the building as “more-is-more architecture that burns my eyes.”

Mike McMains discusses the Greenway Self Park garage, with its corner wind turbines.Courtesy of Gino Generelli

Downtown Chicago has a complicated relationship with parking garages. McMains highlights two. One is the Greenway Self Park at 60 W. Kinzie St., designed as an eco-friendly way to serve internal combustion engines. A corner has wind turbines that McMains said never seem to turn. Another is the dark and massive State-Kinzie-Wabash Self Park that reminds McMains of the monolith in “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

The 325 N. Wells St. building.Tours With Mike

Some buildings might be clinkers on prominent sites. The former Helene Curtis office building at 325 N. Wells St., along the river, has decorated itself with signs for its tenants, a practice McMains likens to the sponsorships on NASCAR jackets. The 15-story 55 W. Wacker Drive building seems heavy and brutalist on a street that celebrates glass. It’s a 1960s creation that McMains calls the “Danny DeVito of Chicago office buildings.”

The building at 55 W. Wacker Drive.Google Street View

McMains skewers Marina City, but not the two towers. He’s critical of other parts of the complex Bertrand Goldberg imagined as a self-contained city, including the theater now used by the House of Blues. It looks like an armadillo, depending on the angle, and possibly doing an injustice to the armadillo.

The House of Blues at Marina City.Tours With Mike

And then there’s Trump Tower, which gets extra attention on McMains’ tour because of what he calls its “toxic branding.”

This is his foray into criticizing a building’s maker, as he said Donald Trump’s presidential legacy can’t be separated from something that wears his name. But he also has observers consider its barren riverwalk that has never drawn retail tenants and a spire McMains sees as an exercise in vanity.

McMains is gathering grist for “bad” Loop buildings. He considers the James R. Thompson Center in that category but argues for its reuse, not its demolition.

“There is nothing like it in the United States. It provides important discourse on the elevation of architecture in the city of Chicago,” he said.

The Harold Washington Library Center would make his list because its homage to past styles is almost literally skin deep, McMains said, calling it a building of “whimsical falsehood.”

Any of these mentions might get somebody angry. The Trump discussion could be especially pointed on his tour. But McMains isn’t out to condemn anything or to say he could do better.

All architecture is about solving problems that include the financial demands from the client. Some failure is inevitable. People often become fond of buildings for reasons apart from curb appeal.

Consider the old Sun-Times Building, which the Trump Tower replaced. McMains commented that if it was still around, he’d put it on his ugly buildings tour. He’d be right. But there was a history there. And people are fond of other ugly buildings that have histories and ties to their personal and professional lives.

They can all keep in mind a phrase lifted here from Nelson Algren: There are lovelier lovelies, but never a lovely so real.

The Sun-Times Building at 401 N. Wabash Ave. as it was being demolished in 2005 to make way for Trump Tower.Sun-Times file

Read More

The woman was parked in her car just after 4:25 a.m. in the 13300 block of South Baltimore Avenue when two males approached and fired shots, police said.

By

Sun-Times Wire

Aug 16, 2021, 5:41am CDT

Read More

Read More

Around 11:15 p.m., the teen was standing on the sidewalk in the 6000 block of South Wolcott Avenue when someone opened fire, police said.

By

Sun-Times Wire

Aug 16, 2021, 1:59am CDT

Read More

A man was shot while standing in a restaurant Sunday in Bronzeville on the South Side.

Around 11:50 p.m., the victim, 31, was standing in a restaurant in the 300 block of East 47th Street when someone in a gray SUV opened fire, Chicago Police said.

He was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

No one was in custody.

Read More

Moon Alert

There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The Moon is in Sagittarius.

Aries (March 21-April 19)

This is an excellent day to study or learn something new because you have focus and concentration. Furthermore, you are interested in something “different.” Something in the news or something related to a foreign country might intrigue you.

Taurus (April 20-May 20)

You are the financial wizard of the zodiac, and today, you’re in a practical frame of mind — especially when it comes to dealing with shared property, the wealth and assets of your partner, inheritances, debt and insurance issues. Roll up your sleeves and get stuff done!

Gemini (May 21-June 20)

A conversation with someone older or more experienced might be beneficial for you today. Either way, someone is bound to offer you some advice. Perhaps this is a two-way street and you have some good suggestions for someone else? You’re eager to communicate today!

Cancer (June 21-July 22)

This will be a productive day for you because you are in a more serious frame of mind, you want to accomplish something. This focus might also extend to your health, which is why some of you might make some resolutions about how to improve your health. (Note: A cookie in each hand is not a balanced diet.)

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22)

Children might be an increased responsibility today. (Perhaps.) Or you might take a more serious approach about honing your skills at sports or in the arts? (Practice makes perfect.) If you are working on a creative project, you can make practical inroads.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

A family discussion about practical matters might take place today, especially with a parent or an older family member. Or perhaps the discussion is about an older family member? Either way, people will likely listen to you because Mercury and Mars are in your sign. Count on it. You’ll run the meeting.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

This is an excellent day to focus on detail-oriented work because you won’t overlook anything. This is because you are in a practical frame of mind and you are concerned with facts and figures. This is a good day to study something or to have a serious discussion with someone.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

If shopping today, you will be more inclined to buy practical, long-lasting items. (No ostrich boas for you!) This is because the moon is in your Money House and it is dancing with stern Saturn, which makes you more concerned with practical, serious matters. You want value for your dollar.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Today you feel happy to be alone with your thoughts and feelings because you are in a calm, reflective mood. Likewise, this is why you will prefer the company of serious people. You’re not going to dance on the table with a lampshade on your head.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

This is an excellent day to do research of any kind because you are in a serious frame of mind; furthermore, you won’t overlook details. You will scrutinize everything and you will have the patience to finish what you begin. This will please you because you hate to waste time.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

A conversation with someone older or more experienced might yield some excellent advice for you. Perhaps this person will help you make future goals or reassess or rethink your current goals. Be willing to accept help from wherever it comes.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)

People notice you more than usual today. They might notice that you are having an important discussion with a boss or someone in authority. Or perhaps, they notice you because you appear sensible, practical and down-to-earth.

If Your Birthday Is Today

Singer, actress Madonna (1958) shares your birthday. You are intelligent and intuitive. You explore spiritual disciplines because you are intellectually curious and find learning to be a rewarding experience. You have strong opinions. You are also disciplined and hard-working. This year is slower paced and relationships are more important. In fact, this is a good year to establish a relationship that will benefit you in the future.

Read More

Read More

Read More