Conversing on the Plaza
Last year at this time, the building under construction at 150 North Riverside Plaza had not yet topped out. The plaza abutting the Chicago River was filled with building materials and construction equipment, with steel and glass being hoisted by a crane. I have photographs to prove it.
Today I was exploring the completed plaza around 1:00PM. The sun was high in the sky when I encountered these two gentlemen. The light on the man to my right made him glow. Unfortunately, I had a 23mm lens mounted on my camera, which was much wider than would have preferred for this photograph, but when opportunity strikes, you've got to go for it.
I think the photograph works nicely. Just two guys having a conversation: Was it about work? Were they coming back from lunch? Are they friends or colleagues? Are the two mutually exclusive? We will never know. On thing is for sure, they could have been models in a fashion ad for a brand of shirts, although maybe not with quite so many wrinkles.
Across the river, immediately to the south of the Randolph Street Bridge, sits 110 North Wacker Drive, which has served as the headquarters for General Growth Properties, Inc. Long ago, it was Morton Salt's headquarters, where my now deceased friend Steve Fine worked for a number of years.
It is as nondescript inside as it is outside: I know because I used to visit Steve at his office located at river level. Designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst, and White, the building was erected in the Fifties. It is one of the last holdouts on Wacker Drive, but not for long. It will be replaced by an 800-foot high glass skyscraper designed by Goettsch Partners.
