Burberry Facade Plaid - Limited Time Only!

click images for larger view

The metal framing that will carry the facade elements of the new Burberry store on North Michigan Avenue is being put in place.

Enjoy it now.  This tan, white and black polychrome plaid, with scaffolding overlays, will disappear as the structure nears complettion.

Already, highly reflective black tinted glass pieces are appearing within the frames.

They're not windows.  The frame is being affixed to the solid wall beneath.

The staircase on Ontario Street that will be a highly visible part of the completed design is already in place, in a well of wallboard whose own plaster geometrics will soon disappear under final finishes.

Eventually, the black of the window glass will take over the whole of solid portions of the facades, as illustrated in the rendering above,  taken from the invaluable skyscraperpage.com website.  The Dark Knight of Michigan Avenue descends.  Raincoat included.

Chicago under Construction: Burberry's on Michigan

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It was only last August when Burberry's two-story North Michigan store, dating from the 1980's, quickly disappeared into the ground.  In it's place is what's reported to be a five story replacement.  If Burberry has a published a final version of the design, I haven't seen it, although a year ago, the Chicago Architecture Blog published what they said was an early sketch, which you can check out here.

photograph: Bob Johnson

So here's some photos documenting the progress so far, aided and abetted by our indefatigable correspondent Bob Johnson, who they actually let up into adjacent buildings so he can get the striking aerial shots.

 photograph: Bob Johnson

 

 photograph: Bob Johnson