Comments on: Making out doesn't make it notable.

Question: Making out doesn't make it notable.

asuprenant — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 18:49:42 -0800

Which Chicagoland parking garages are most notable? Which historical, architecturally-interesting, or culturally relevant parking structures in or around Chicago are missing from this list?

Marina City
(corncob buildings + condos)

The John Hancock Center
(has Guggenheim-style spiral ramp)

Trump Tower
(has a light-from-within sculpture at the base)

Self-Park Garage on East Wacker Place
(by Stanley Tigerman)

Contemporaine
(by Ralph Johnson)

Millennium Park
(is a lid for a parking garage)

Harris Music for Theater and Dance
(looks like a parking garage)

shops at North and Clybourn
(nice view, previously)

111 South Wacker
ramp creates curvilinear pattern in ceiling

Hotel LaSalle (now demolished)
world's first parking garage

The Milwaukee Museum of Art

By: tew

tew — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:42:43 -0800

According to my (old, maybe out of date) AIA Guide, the Parking Garage at O'Hare Airport (1973, C.F. Murphy Assocs.) was the "largest construction contract ever awarded by the city and the world's largest garage when built". 79 acres of parking on six levels.

Also in my guide, there's a "parking structure" at 209 S. Wabash (1929, Loebl, Schlossman & Demuth) where a "garage with first-floor shops fits behind a four-story Art Deco facade." More of that "preservation" I've been hearing so much about, I guess.

By: zerobyproxy

zerobyproxy — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:48:34 -0800

Sorry this is not much help but, there is a garage somewhere near Belmont and Clark that used to be a ballroom. The ceilings are still painted in cloudscapes. I wish I could remember exactly where it is located.

By: gjc

gjc — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 19:58:10 -0800

I can't prove it, but one/some/many of the buildings down on Jewelers Row have built in car lifts that allow the merchants to drive their cars in and park directly on their floor for security purposes.

And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KzEAs3Yclg

By: wfrgms

wfrgms — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:57:03 -0800

Video of a guy driving down all 19-floors of Marina City's garage.

Another video of the recent Allstate stunt where they drove a car out of the garage... from the 19th floor. Which I think is a remake of a scene from some movie...

By: hydrophonic

hydrophonic — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 23:45:57 -0800

The Millennium Park Bicycle Station--excuse me, the McDonald's Cycle Center--is a parking garage for bicycles.

Is a parking lot a structure? The lot at the Chicago Center for Green Technology was designed with a lot of sustainable tech features. Its light color reflects sunlight instead of heating up. It's made from paper industry by-products. If I remember correctly, it's permeable. There are no curbs, so any water that collects will drain to a pond that leeches out toxins.

By: mctsonic

mctsonic — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:02:26 -0800

>>Which I think is a remake of a scene from some movie...
wfrgms - that would be Steve McQueen's last movie - 'The Hunter' ... The cornfield scene were the Trans Am explodes was shot in my hometown of Manteno and I know someone who snagged the gascap of the blown up vehicle as a souvenir - good times.

By: Xalf

Xalf — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:14:38 -0800

There's the garage from Ferris Bueller discussed in this article. It's at Madison and Wells.

And I'm pretty sure there's a Steven Segal movie with scenes in the garage at 55 E. Monroe. Googling suggests it's Above the Law.