CULWULLA
July 28th, 2005, 02:21 AM
seems like you have to twist your bldg these days . what ever happened to a straight sided bldg?lol
height-610m to spire
roof-444m (1 metre higher then Sears)
115storeys
http://images.suntimes.com/popups/spire/images/spire5_700.jpg
In Chicago, Plans for a High-Rise Raise Interest and Post-9/11 Security Concerns
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
CHICAGO, July 25 - In a city known for its skyscrapers, in an era when tall buildings have become targets, can the skyline handle one more that stretches the limit? In Chicago, it seems, the answer may be yes - if the architect is a "starchitect" like Santiago Calatrava.
Mr. Calatrava, a Spaniard who lives in Zurich, has designed what would be the country's tallest building for Chicago. The developer, Christopher T. Carley, plans to announce the $500 million project on Tuesday.
The structure would be called the Fordham Spire and is proposed to be built at North Water Street and Lake Shore Drive, near where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. It would be 115 stories, topping out at 1,458 feet to its roof. A spire on top would reach about 2,000 feet, making the building the country's tallest.
The Sears Tower, at 1,729 feet, is now the tallest when antennas are included. The Burj Tower in Dubai, under construction, is said to be planned at 2,300 feet, which would make it the world's tallest.
Developers in Chicago have tried in recent years to erect another large skyscraper to add to the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center and Aon Center, 3 of the 15 tallest buildings in the world. A soft commercial real estate market doomed those efforts. But Mr. Carley, a local developer of expensive residential properties, said the Fordham Spire - named after his development firm, the Fordham Company - would be a mixed-use tower with 200 to 250 condominiums atop a 20-story hotel. He said that its unique design, which resembles a drill bit, a blade of grass or a tall, twisting tree, depending on whom you ask, would attract high-end buyers eager to live in a Calatrava structure.
Both developer and architect said they were mindful of security concerns in designing the tower. Mr. Calatrava, in an interview, said he never set out to design the tallest building but instead was drawn to the project by the chance to do something special for the "heroic Chicago skyline."
"Nobody is saying it has to be the highest building in the country," Mr. Calatrava said Monday from Zurich. "The idea was to build a very slender, elegant building in this skyline."
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050727/capt.cx10107271606.chicago_skyscraper_cx101.jpg?x=254&y=345&sig=nMr2QWj_Rm4NStePGiruIg--
height-610m to spire
roof-444m (1 metre higher then Sears)
115storeys
http://images.suntimes.com/popups/spire/images/spire5_700.jpg
In Chicago, Plans for a High-Rise Raise Interest and Post-9/11 Security Concerns
By ALEXEI BARRIONUEVO
CHICAGO, July 25 - In a city known for its skyscrapers, in an era when tall buildings have become targets, can the skyline handle one more that stretches the limit? In Chicago, it seems, the answer may be yes - if the architect is a "starchitect" like Santiago Calatrava.
Mr. Calatrava, a Spaniard who lives in Zurich, has designed what would be the country's tallest building for Chicago. The developer, Christopher T. Carley, plans to announce the $500 million project on Tuesday.
The structure would be called the Fordham Spire and is proposed to be built at North Water Street and Lake Shore Drive, near where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. It would be 115 stories, topping out at 1,458 feet to its roof. A spire on top would reach about 2,000 feet, making the building the country's tallest.
The Sears Tower, at 1,729 feet, is now the tallest when antennas are included. The Burj Tower in Dubai, under construction, is said to be planned at 2,300 feet, which would make it the world's tallest.
Developers in Chicago have tried in recent years to erect another large skyscraper to add to the Sears Tower, John Hancock Center and Aon Center, 3 of the 15 tallest buildings in the world. A soft commercial real estate market doomed those efforts. But Mr. Carley, a local developer of expensive residential properties, said the Fordham Spire - named after his development firm, the Fordham Company - would be a mixed-use tower with 200 to 250 condominiums atop a 20-story hotel. He said that its unique design, which resembles a drill bit, a blade of grass or a tall, twisting tree, depending on whom you ask, would attract high-end buyers eager to live in a Calatrava structure.
Both developer and architect said they were mindful of security concerns in designing the tower. Mr. Calatrava, in an interview, said he never set out to design the tallest building but instead was drawn to the project by the chance to do something special for the "heroic Chicago skyline."
"Nobody is saying it has to be the highest building in the country," Mr. Calatrava said Monday from Zurich. "The idea was to build a very slender, elegant building in this skyline."
http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/ap/20050727/capt.cx10107271606.chicago_skyscraper_cx101.jpg?x=254&y=345&sig=nMr2QWj_Rm4NStePGiruIg--