Chicago Spire?

Santiago Calatrava is yet another great architect; his Milwaukee Art Museum dominates the shore of Lake Michigan.  It is a 90 foot high glass-enclosed reception hall covered by a movable wing-like sun screen made of 72 steel fins that control the temperature and light of the interior.  The thought that it would take to create these steel fins that can control the temperature of the interior would take a lot of calculations and thinking.  The design of the building is not only very creative, but very innovative features such as this are amazing to me as well.

After researching Santiago’s works a bit I found it very interesting how he represents the human body and the natural world in his architecture as well.

He spent five years in school studying architecture and four years after that studying engineering to develop his very unique style of design.  Santiago like Frank Gehry has a very unique style that he has developed for himself which allows you to recognize his architecture.  Also like Gehry Santiago’s architecture can be found throughout the world.



Santiago has made many bridges and train stations as seen in the video and in many of them he uses the thinner metal pieces and gives the appearance that the structure is being twisted.  I think this could be considered one of his signature designs.  In many of his structures he gives the appearance that it is being twisted.  Such as the Chicago Spire that he has designed to be built on lake shore drive, but I found in an article from this past October that this project is officially dead.  Due to financial difficulties the project was stopped and the spire which was supposed to be over 2,000 feet tall will now only exist in its drawings. 

I had never heard of this plan for the Chicago spire but I am disappointed to hear that it won’t be added to the Chicago skyline.  He may still design a building to go in its place, but it will not be near 2,000 feet tall and I’m sure not near the spectacle this spire would have been.  Santiago Calatrava is still a very popular architect today and it is due to his flowing designs, and creative style that is so aesthetically pleasing.  It blows my mind that someone could continue to create such creative pieces of architecture when the majority of the buildings you see are just the plain rectangular sky scrapers.  Calatrava has set himself apart from other architects as an artist on the international level.  His art will be viewed by millions for centuries to come.