10 Years Later, Studio Gang's Latest Hyde Park Tower Is Finally Happening

By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 19, 2016 6:41PM

Studio Gang Architects

Update, 5:15 p.m.:
Above is the very latest rendering of Solstice on the Park, courtesy of Studio Gang.

Original:
We’re starting to think of Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects as the Chance the Rapper of local architecture: arguably flirting with overexposure but, being such fans, we couldn’t care less. News came this week regarding a couple of Gang-designed projects, the most exciting of which is a start date for the long-discussed Solstice on the Park tower in Hyde Park. As reported by Hyde Park Herald and noted by Curbed Chicago, construction on the 26-story apartment building is slated to begin on Oct. 3.

The tower was designed way back in 2006, and as Curbed notes, it has since undergone a few conceptual transformations. Previous plans also called for a hotel to be included, along with 145 rental units. The hotel concept has been scrapped, however, and the rentals will number 250. As for the look, well, that might actually still be up in the air, too (no pun intended), as a couple of different renderings—with slight variations—have been floated over the years. (Studio Gang Architects did not immediately return request for comment.) According to the Herald, the building will stand at 1634 E. 56th St. and developers said the project will take nearly two years to complete.

Elsewhere in Chicago, the Gang-designed riverside Vista skyscraper broke ground earlier this month downtown; and the splashy new North Residential Commons dorm, also designed by the firm, was opened to students over the weekend. Look out: it won’t be long before those undulating wavy forms become the signature look of the city—which, like we said, is cool with us.

[H/T Curbed]