Genius Architect Wants To Hide Trump Tower Sign With Flying Pigs

By Stephen Gossett in News on Dec 5, 2016 5:45PM

New World Design

Right up there with the electric light bulb and the KFC Double Down comes this brilliant idea from a local architectural firm. If Donald Trump insists on making Chicagoans suffer the indignity that is the monument to his ego, Trump Tower, let’s at least block from sight the offending name as much as possible—specifically with giant flying gold pigs.

That’s the idea behind a hypothetical proposal from New World Design, Ltd., who posted their plan—which has since gone understandably viral—to the company’s blog on Nov. 17. The concept is pretty much all there in the visual, but we’ll quote NWD’s original post, which doubles as artist statement:

"Comprised of four gold colored balloon pigs tethered to buoys in the Chicago River, the folly is a design effort by NWD to provide visual relief to the citizens of Chicago by interrupting the view of the ostentatious Trump Tower Chicago sign. The design scheme follows rigorous rationale in providing layers of meaning while allowing for nuanced interpretations by viewers."

The brilliant artistic middle finger comes with layers of significance: a reference to Pink Floyd’s Animals album cover, a commentary on Trump’s “gaudy style;” an allusion to the sadly controverted “when pigs fly” conventional wisdom of a Trump and the president-elect’s attack on Alicia Machado, and more. Seriously, this works on a lot levels beyond just plain hilarity.

Of course, there are a host of logistical concerns that could make it difficult to actually realize—even with the local administration's general displeasure with Trump. But as the "flying pigs" allude to, much crazier things have happened.

Chicagoist has reached out to the team behind the proposal, and we will update this post accordingly—hopefully with details on how the ball is rolling.

New World Design

[H/T Architects Newspaper and Reddit]