Urban Referent

I know this is an oldie and really old news, but after zooming around Chicago in Google Maps earlier today, I remembered back to my college days and the first time I saw the Crate & Barrel flagship on Michigan Avenue. At the time I assumed it was a Richard Meier design, what with the white aluminum tiles, expanses of glass, and cylindrical corner.


This image found here

Actually, the store was designed by local office Solomon Cordwell Buenz, in a design recalling not only Meier's signature style but the simple white boxes of the store itself. What I remember from my first visit more than the exterior though was the skylit top floor. This skylight, and especially the diagonal wall, are what made me really think it was done by Richard Meier, whose Athaneum, High Museum and other early projects used geometry (in particular diagonals) to relate to their context, usually pointing to something of significance.



So, what's the diagonal wall of Crate & Barrel pointing to?



Well, the John Hancock Center, of course!



As this image (found here) clearly shows, the skylight and diagonal wall unmistakably point -- and therefore relate the new building to -- the Hancock, a Modernist giant in Chicago. So what does this gesture accomplish? I think it does a few things: 1. It gives a new perspective on the Hancock, from four floors above Michigan Avenue, rather than on the sidewalk; 2. It elevates the status of the Hancock, as an urban and architectural icon; and 3. It attempts to align the store with the Hancock, in terms of high Modern design ideals.