Aqua

 

Before continuing our journey south with you, J.D. suggested that you might enjoy a post highlighting this wonderful piece of architecture that we had the pleasure of seeing while in Chicago. The name of this 82 story residential skyscraper is 'Aqua'. 

 

Due to the unique design of the balconies for each apartment and the special reflective glass, the building gives the illusion of water/aqua flowing down it's sides. That reflective glass, by the way reduces the need for air conditioning.

 

The Aqua tower was designed by Jeanne Gang. It was the tallest tower ever built by a female architect and was her first high rise project. Aqua also received Emporis' 2009 Skyscraper Award. 

FYI...... a little known fact about me is that my childhood hero was Frank Lloyd Wright and it was my dream to be an architect. While other girls were reading Nancy Drew, I read any book I could find that showcased his designs and spent hours looking at the photos of the many buildings he had designed. When I finally attended a high school that offered an Architecture I class, I signed up for it as an elective class. It became the class project I think, to see how fast my male teacher and his students (all male) could get me to drop the class. Any extra help that I ('THE GIRL') needed was not forth coming from my  teacher or fellow students. That was a time though when it was still pretty much a man's world and females tended to just deal with it. Our purpose in life at that time was to be wives and mothers. Heaven forbid if any of us were to venture out into the job world. If we did, it was to do 'women' jobs like telephone operator, teach, nurse, wait tables, etc. Thank God some of us just refused to sit quietly and accept our lot in life. I applaud Ms. Gang on her design of Aqua and her many architectural accomplishments.

In the mean time, start packing and be ready to head south with us tomorrow. Have a blessed day.