Training Day

I spent most of the day (and will again tomorrow) in a training class at One IBM Plaza. You can see that building in this picture, looking over the shoulder of the regrettable Chicago Sun-Times building. If there is any reason to like Donald Trump, and I am hard-pressed to find any, it is that he is tearing down the horrid monstrosity and building a new tower. The idea behind the Sun-Times building is that it looks like a ship, situated adjacent to the Chicago River. That was the idea. Instead it is an ugly gray mass.

The IBM building was designed by Mies Van der Rohe, which means it is a joyless dark box. The Sun-Times building, I believe, was designed by Mies on a bender.

Incidentally, if you are an aging old crank like myself, you can dig up any album put out by Polygram records from the early to mid '70s (I recommend Rush's A Farewell To Kings)and the IBM building graces the label. It was once the headquarters of Polygram. Rock on.