About Social Media Today
Congratulations to Jeanne Gang, Mark Schendel and all the gang at Studio Gang in Chicago. This award shows that nice people can finish first (if they're super-talented).
From the citation: "The Emporis Award Jury chose Aqua as the best skyscraper of 2009 for its advances in sustainable design and for the imaginative and fascinating architectural effects it achieves. With the dramatic flair evoked by a theater curtain, the rippling facade of Aqua has caught the attention of thousands of people looking into the skyline from Grant Park or the Chicago River. Seen from afar, the building appears to be a standard, though well proportioned, rectangle. A little bit closer, the wavy folds formed by the undulating balconies arouse curiosity and invite inspection. Planes of smooth glass between the balconies catch sunlight and resemble calm watery surfaces. As the tower starts to loom overhead, it changes shape; straight lines disappear, and a mass of rounded layers stack up vertiginously like a limestone palisade molded by centuries of flowing water."
The "Fire Pit" on Aqua's terrace.Aqua towered over towers in Dubai, Bangkok, Rotterdam and New York in this year's voting. Previous Emporis Skyscraper Awards went to Foster and Partners, "Gherkin" in London and Hearst Tower in Manhattan, Taipei 101 in Taipei, Ellerbe Becket's Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Santiago Calatrava's Turning Torso Tower in Malmö, Sweden.
Bottom three photographs: Steve Hall©HedrichBlessing.
The top one is mine, from this previous post on Aqua.
Does Aqua make your mouth water? I'd really like to know what you think of it.
