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As the concrete frame of the Sofitel
Hotel in the Gold Coast area of Chicago climbed higher
it was apparent that the Midwestern city would finally have
a remarkable contemporary (late 20th-century) building to
call its own, even if its designer needs to cross the Atlantic
to book a room. Open since early summer 2002 the 478-room
hotel, by the Parisian architect Jean-Paul Viguier is a striking,
yet sensitive design that fits into the city's context with
ease that raises the question, "Why aren't more buildings
like this?" As Chicago finds itself mired in an environment
of new buildings sporting the typical reactionary garb of
brick, stone and painted concrete, it's refreshing to see
a building that responds to the city's influential Modernist
structures without itself being reactionary to that movement
or aesthetic. |
