Our Gold Coast spy sent in this picture of the new Tommy Bahama store going in on the ground floor of the Ritz-Carlton Residences (664 North Michigan Avenue).  The skyscraper is pretty much done, and hopefully the retail space will all fill up...

The boom of a cement squirting truck working on the Optima Tower (200 East Illinois Street) frames the not-quite-done-yet facade of Chicago’s new 14-story Ronald McDonald House.  Previous coverage: Status Update: Ronald McDonald House The House That Ronald’s...

Sunday morning, a helicopter crane lifted the new Kemper logo and sign to the top of the former Unitrin Building.  Here are some...

Loop North News notes a strange kind of theft — Apparently some people walked into Marina City (300 North State Street) and stole fuses from a storage space in a hallway.  The haul was worth $300.  I’ve heard of people stealing copper wire and manhole covers for their scrap...

Behind sheets of billowing plastic, construction crews coat the steel beams of the new Burberry Store going up on the Magnificent Mile (633 North Michigan Avenue.) Previous coverage: Burberry Flagship Status Update Lighting Up Burberry’s Black Box Check-ing in on Burberry A Shadow of...

Earlier this week we told you about plans finally moving forward for Trio Park (702 West Wayman Street).  Now we hear there are expansion plans afoot for one of Chicago’s newest and most-used urban parks — A. Montgomery Ward Park (630 North Kingsbury Street). The main portion of...

One of our frequent e-mailers sent in this slice of life from Millennium Park, where the flowers are competing for attention with Chicago’s...

This is a little beyond me, but since people in Chicagoland love Frank Lloyd Wright, I thought I’d pass this press release on to everyone. Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the Academy of Neuroscience Announce International Symposium on Neuroscience and Architecture Taliesin West hosts...

Today we continue our series called “The Tops.”   Every year, millions of people admire Chicago’s architecture.  Most people only get to see the city’s skyscrapers and landmarks from street level.  This series answers the question, “What’s up...

  The foundation is in place and this week workers are furiously pouring concrete for the lower floors of what will eventually be the 42-story residential skyscraper called Optima Tower (200 East Illinois Street). Previous coverage: New Chicago Skyscraper Faces...

Lakeshore East’s newest skyscraper continues to grow. The Coast (345 East Wacker Drive) has cleared the top level of the triple-decker street and is now headed skyward, obliterating the views of hundreds of people in Aqua (225 North Columbus Drive), The Tides (360 East South Water...

Spring has stubbornly refused to spring in Chicago.  But in some parts of the city, the flowers are pushing forth anyway. Here are some photos and a video we took at the Osaka Garden in Jackson Park last week.  Think warm...

Chicago’s perpetually under-parked urban core is getting another patch of greenspace. Trio Park (702 West Wayman Street), next to the building of the same name (670 West Wayman Street), has been in the works for years.  In fact, it was promised to the community as part of the zoning...

Part of the charm of shopping on Oak Street is the way all of the high-end boutiques are squeezed into every available space of the stately greystones that line both sides. Over the years, those greystones have become fewer and fewer, replaced with buildings that add to, or subtract from, the...

Loop North News reports that a photography exhibit all about Chicago’s Marina City (300 North State Street) is now on display at an art gallery in Boston. The commercial operators have been up and down the Chicago River and the lakefront for weeks now.  But the Chicago Architecture...

A foggy early spring morning, looking at the Chicago skyline from the Gold Coast.  In the foreground you can see Bughouse Square, officially known as Washington Square Park (901 North Clark Street). Beyond the Merchandise Mart (222 West Merchandise Mart Plaza) the Loop’s skyscrapers...

Over the past week there has been a lot of discussion about just what is Chicago’s New Eastside — Is it a development?  Is it a neighborhood? Is it a marketing gimmick? As someone who has lived in two different buildings in the New Eastside, and almost a third, I feel I can bring...

Today we continue our series called “The Tops.”   Every year, millions of people admire Chicago’s architecture.  Most people only get to see the city’s skyscrapers and landmarks from street level.  This series answers the question, “What’s up...