No, it's not an architectural version of Viagra - it's just that the Trump Tower still ain't done yet. Remember a few months ago when helicopters buzzed around the top of the Trump, lowering Spirework into place and making the collective necks of Chicago stare up at it til' it was done? Yeah, we thought it was finished too. Guess not - Blair Kamen reports on the Tribune's Skyline Blog that it's still at least 2 weeks away from completion, depending on the weather. more ›

Here’s what we missed while we were watching loud, fast planes and asthmatic midgets: Bailiwick Rep is working to expand their audience with Hogwash, a family friendly improv show, playing Saturday afternoons through November 17, and a special “Naked Night” performance of Barenaked Lads September 7 where performers and audience alike will bare it all. And it’s for a good cause. (link is NSFW, more or less) As foundation work commences for the Chicago Spire,... more ›

The Trib’s Blair Kamen looks behind the facades. Specifically, those salvaged historic facades slapped onto newer buildings in and around the city core. Sadly, it might be the best compromise available to preservationists in a development-hungry city. The accompanying slide show reveals some smart, respectful conversions at the Reliance Building, Hotel Burnham, and the Oriental Theater. WBEZ’s Secret Radio Project will be renamed :Vocalo. Yes, the colon is included, likely as unpronouncable as India.Arie’s dot.... more ›

The media elite and tenured intelligentsia are making you feel like an unwashed plebian if you aren’t fawning over Fermilab or Millennium Park. And you’re sick of your relatives braying on about thrilling tourist traps like Medieval Times and Six Flags. You know better, don’t you? For the rest of the month, the Illinois Tourism Bureau gives you the chance to make your alternative views heard… and then promptly drowned out by the voters who... more ›

These are days of rage for Tribune architecture critics and their readers. Today, Blair Kamen and Patrick T. Reardon released their list of candidates for Ugliest Building in Chicagoland (Outside the Loop) and have asked readers to vote for the region’s all-out fugliest. They admit the list is unscientific and there’s much more bad design to go around. Thanks to masses of commuters, the rickety Roosevelt Road Metra station seemed destined to be the reader... more ›

Did you see The Incredibles this weekend? Well, we didn't. But apparently you and everyone else did. According to studio estimates, the flick racked up $70.7 million dollars which makes it Pixar’s best opening ever but a distant second to Shrek 2 in the best-opening-weekend-for-an-animated-film sweepstakes. Sorry we’re not math majors or we’d adjust for inflation. more ›