Chicago, where the skyscraper was invented, wants to strengthen its claim to the tallest towers in the world. Ever since the Sears tower was completed in the mid-seventies, the city has struggled to erect anything nearly as tall. In 1996, Maylasia's Petronas towers striped the title away as the world's tallest. A dejected Chicago responded a few years later with a serious looking proposal to outsize its predecessor at 7 South Dearborn. When that project fizzled, who else but "The Donald" declared that he would bring the world's tallest back to the windy city with his new luxury condominium/hotel building on the Chicago riverfront. September 11th happened and Mr. Trump cowered by reducing the size so as to the be only fourth-tallest building in the city. Now some enterprising developer wants to try again, with this beauty, but I remain skeptical. Super high-rises make little business sense these days, but I for one love many of these new designs for their sculptural merits. In any event none of the aforementioned buildings will come even close to the height of this one in Dubai, which is already under construction and one I've worked on myself.
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