facts about the sears tower
by Admin on Jul 14th, 2010
Review by E. Larson for LEGO Architecture Sears Tower (21000)
Rating:
I don’t disagree with the previous reviewer that states you may be able to build this model with bricks you already own, but depending on the size of your brick collection that’s true for practically any Lego set. To that end, Lego actually allows you to download directions for this and many other sets from their website at [...]
That, however, is not the point. This set and the rest of those in the Lego Architecture Series are less about being a typical Lego toy set and more about enjoying one specific artist’s interpretation (Adam Reed Tucker) of major architectural landmarks of this and the last century. His own site, [...], does a nice job of explaining how these sets came to be.
With all of that as backdrop, I really enjoyed receiving this set (and several others in the series) as a gift. My five year old and I put them together as a team. She could do practically all of the real assembly, but we enjoyed talking about the real buildings and my exeriences being near and/or inside several of them in my travels. She was able to talk about basic concepts of their structures after assembling Mr. Tucker’s interpretations in Lego form.
So, if you’re looking for a traditional Lego toy, look to a different series of their sets. If you are an architecture buff or shopping for one the sets and the booklets that accompany those in this series are great fun.
And Chicago? We can name deep-pan pizza and corrupt local government as two of its better known products.
But there is far more to it than this.
Unlike its supercool cousins, the city does not sit on the trendy East or West Coast, but in the rather less hip Midwest.
This makes it something of an unexpected treasure when, after driving through the endless Illinois prairie land, its majestic skyscrapers appear on the horizon.
Built on the shore of Lake Michigan, it is a modern metropolis accommodating some of the finest architecture in the Western world.
The best way to see this is by boat. To get my bearings, I take a Chicago Architecture Foundation cruise along the turquoise river that snakes through the heart of the city.
Towering overhead on both banks, against a piercing blue sky, are a dizzying number of Victorian, Modernist, neo-classical, neo-Gothic and Postmodernist masterpieces – all built since the Great Fire of 1871, which all but destroyed the centre.
The blaze provided Chicago with an opportunity to start afresh and fashion a wonderfully liveable new city from the embers of the old.
European influences abound – as one tour guide told us, “America didn’t have its own architectural style before Frank Lloyd Wright” — but Chicago looks nothing like anywhere in Europe.
Its triumphs include Tribune Tower, whose resemblance to a cathedral is not accidental — the home of the Chicago Tribune was inspired by Rouen Cathedral in Normandy, complete with decorative buttresses and scrollwork. A sort of Midwestern Xanadu perhaps.
My favourite – The Carbide and Carbon Building is designed to look like a champagne bottle, with every bit as much fizz and sparkle in its unusual gold tower and dark-green base.
And then there’s the beach – a charmingly incongruous addition to the urban landscape.
Gaze out from it across the lake and you’ll fancy yourself on a seaside holiday. Turn around and you’ll see the skyscrapers looming over you – a surprising contrast.
The pleasant walk along the lake shore – or cycle ride, if you prefer – will take you to touristy Navy Pier.
Here, the air hangs heavy with the smell of fast food while greedy seagulls swoop to snatch morsels dropped by the overfed crowds.
Sandwiched between the usual end-of-pier attractions is a McDonald’s restaurant whose sign sports the legend: “McDonald’s the future”.
But in Chicago, McDonald’s is very much the present.
Somehow I can forgive this though. For a fan of Americana in all its glorious and inglorious forms, the ubiquitous fast-food chain is far easier on the eye here than it is at home.
Still, while Navy Pier merits a visit – especially for the twice-weekly firework display – it is not a place to spend the bulk of your time.
I lingered longer in the Art Institute of Chicago. A whole day, in fact. With one of the best collections of Impressionist paintings in the world, this enormous gallery is an art lover’s paradise.
Also worth a look is the American Modern Art section, where Grant Wood’s American Gothic hangs alongside works by Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe and others.
And when your aching feet can’t take any more, conceptual art-filled Millennium Park offers a vast expanse of green on which to lay back and take in that skyscraper-lined skyline some more.
The park will give your purse a rest as well. No, Chicago is not cheap, although plentiful meals that don’t break the bank can be found if you look hard enough.
Manny’s Deli is the best lunch option for those on a budget. A no-frills, canteen-style deli, it serves what could well be the best Jewish food this side of New York: chicken soup with matzo ball or kreplach, potato pancakes, kishke, herring . . . It’s all there for you to pile up high on your plastic tray.
Chinatown is also relatively inexpensive and worth a visit – if only to window shop down the main drag, where restaurants and shops dish up exotic fare or peddle dust-covered junk. I ordered dim sum at the oddly-named Three Happiness restaurant. Some were reasonably tasty, while others emitted an off-putting school dinner scent.
In search of authentic American grub, I selected from the long list of steakhouses Harry Caray’s, a smart and pricey eatery established by the eponymous baseball announcer.
The 13oz filet mignon came in at a hefty 34.95 dollars. And that was before we tipped the waiter the customary 15 per cent or so for his excessively attentive service and entertaining chatter on the topic of Caray.
“He liked to drink before a game and if the Cubs scored a home run he went wild and started yelling into his mic,” he said.
At pizza chain Giordano’s, our waitress didn’t lavish quite as much attention on us.
There wasn’t the usual: “How’re you enjoying that food? Still workin’ on it? Wanna take the rest home?”
This was a welcome respite actually, and left us free to devote our full attention to the task at hand – a sumptuous deep-pan pizza with filling about an inch deep and what looked like several kilos of mozzarella.
At the end of each day, I collapsed into my queen-sized bed at Hotel Indigo – a plush and pristine boutique hotel in the Gold Coast neighbourhood, perfectly situated for sightseeing on foot.
Chicago is not a city that never sleeps. There’s no lack of nightlife, but it does get its beauty sleep. Maybe that’s why it feels so laid back and fresh.
After dark, if you squint, you can picture Gotham City. But open your eyes wide and you’ll see the Midwest’s finest jewel: a stunningly conceived slice of urban America – with Coke and extra fries.
Travel Facts
- Rosa Silverman flew to Chicago on American Airlines, which flies there four times a day non-stop from London Heathrow and once a day from Manchester
- Return prices start from £368.70, including taxes and surcharges, from London Heathrow and from £370.90 from Manchester
- To book a room at Hotel Indigo, call 001 866 521 6950 or visit www.goldcoastchicagohotel.com
- To help plan a holiday in Chicago, visit www.visitchicago.com
