John Hancock Observatory
As the sun showed early signs of setting, I made my way to the Hancock Observatory on the 94th floor of the John Hancock building. The elevator claimed that it is the most recognized building in the world, which I find doubtful. I did believe that it has some of the fastest elevators in the world as we shot to the top at 550 meters per minute (30 feet per second). Maybe those elevators are just some fast talkers too, if you know what I mean.
Before going up the elevator, a girl took a photograph of me in front of a green screen with a nice Nikon digital camera. Up in the observatory I handed my little slip of paper to the woman at a desk. Then she brought up my photo on a monitor, superimposed on various professional shots from the observatory, as though a photographer took my picture standing there at the windows. Charming. I think it’s $6 per picture to have them printed out, but I declined. The other hokey thing you can do in the observatory is take pictures of your friends and family in a little mockup that makes it look like they are outside washing the windows.
On clear days the observatory offers 360°, 80-mile views of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. I was there on a mostly-sunny day, but the views were still magnificent, especially looking south towards the Loop. In the middle of the south facade there is a proudly-advertised open-air section. However, basically the only difference is that instead of looking through glass, you are looking through black mesh screen. That and the cold wind will nearly knock you over. I just felt the wind coming in as someone opened the door and that was enough for me.
In the photo below, the fifteen-story brick building in the lower-middle-left is the Tremont Hotel (built in 1927). The other brick building to the right of it is the Whitehall Hotel from 1928. Just behind that is the Bristol, completed in 2002 and designed by Solomon, Cordwell, Buenz and Associates. Beyond that, the white triangular building that angles out towards the top is the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower Hotel, which opened in 2002. It was designed by Jean-Paul Viguier, with Perkins and Will doing interiors. By 2006, a condominium tower will stand behind the Tremont, also designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz. The white tower rising up through the right side of the image is KPF’s 900 North Michigan, finished in 1989.
All around the observatory windows, I could see large black spiders hanging onto their webs in the corners. Two things that intrigue me are: how did they ever get up to the outside of the 94th floor in the first place, and how do they manage to hold on when the wind blows so strong it makes the top of the building sway ten inches?
I forgot that shooting through windows will inevitably result in reflections showing up in your pictures. A polarizing filter will eliminate this problem. Do I have a polarizing filter? Yes. Did I use it? No. Hence, the reflections become more noticeable as the sun goes down. Hopefully they don’t bother you as much as they do me.
dinner... or dessert
On my way out of the John Hancock building, I stopped by the Cheesecake Factory on the lower level. I’ve been to the one in Seattle a couple times, and while the food isn’t bad, the cheesecake selections are incredible. As I expected, the restaurant was quite crowded. So I stopped by the bakery counter and ordered a slice of chocolate tuxedo cream cheesecake to go.
Astor Historic District