Chicago Windows: Sunset on the Hancock by auntietk
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
When in Chicago last month, Marilyn and I stayed at the Westin Hotel across the street from the John Hancock Center on the Magnificant Mile. The window of our room looked out on the side of that 100-floor skyscraper! You might think that would be a boring view ... I assure you, it was anything but boring!
For one thing, we were TOTALLY blown away by the fact that they park cars above the street level IN the building!!! Let me provide a bit of context for you. Seattle has no subway. There is exactly one tunnel under the city that carries a rail line. All the skyscrapers in Seattle have underground parking. You drive in at street level and go DOWN to park. Not up!!! Anyplace you park above the street is in a dedicated parking garage.
We were on the 12th floor of the hotel, and were looking straight across at cars. Unbelievable! Of course Mark and Chip and Corey were bemused, bewildered and perhaps even a bit bedeviled by our continued amazement at this phenomenon. They thought it was all perfectly normal!
On Friday evening we looked out to see the side of the Hancock Center lit up in the setting sun. The color of the light was this incredible orange, and it changed the entire character of that huge, black building.

Comments (35)
Superb...for all the reasons you've mentioned. The black metal has taken a copper color here. Architects must get a tremendous charge out of surprising observers with all their subtleties. We will have to get you traveling more. I have stayed in a 20 story hotel in Honolulu that had a six story parking garage built right into the building.
Excellent image. The lighting and the construction of the building are great. Well done.
Gorgeous! Just my luck to stay two weeks and never catch this. And don't forget what floor your rental car's parked on. It's such a big hassle. Oh, I'm just jealous, can you tell? Hehe.
Whoa, house on fire! The lighting as seen on my monitor gives the building a slightly greenish color, so it's copper and copper. The color fade from one color to the other in the lower left is really neat. Way cool image.
Fantastic shot! great colours in the glass and on the framing!
I'll never get tired of seeing any of these fotos--even though we see the same things, we see them and shoot them so differently. This---ROCKS!!
nice shot...
When I read the title in the ebot I new it was going to be something spectacular and I am not disappointed! Wonderful image Dierbaar! The glow of the setting sunlight is stunning! :)
wonderful capture, Tara May love the lights warm hugs that smile, Linda Kaye
How funny. You reminded me of a parking garage when I was very young in Cleveland where the cars were taken from the entry on special elevators to upper floors where attendants would then drive them to a spot and park them. The first floor had nothing but the office and entries into the different hallways that connected the garage to the many stores around it.
What about about the Cape Town hospital I was in, which has its reception on the 8th floor...! Imagine the elevator for emergencies! Amazing what we do see when we choose to look. Great reflections, Clive
The John Hancock Center is a weird place...I think it's a city inside of Chicago, since you can actually live your entire life in there and never have to come out. There are shopping malls, apartments, parking, grocery stores, parking, restaurants, and who knows what else in there! Honestly, it's a closed environment! AND, it looks like...well...I don't know...something Stanley Kubrick might put in a science fiction movie. Anyway... This image is superb. It's funny that you posted this because I was just thinking about that place and wondering if I should try to sneak out and photograph it one night this week. The light here is wonderful, it's magical. In a way it has that sort of dream-like haze that always covers memories and sharpens them. This is amazingly great work. Kafka approves as well...though silently. He's rakishly propped up against this monitor.
Fabulous, Tara! and the comments are an education in themselves. Such gorgeous tertiary colours.
Fantastic image! :)
I have spent very little time in Chicago but I was also impressed with the buildings and scenery.
wow what an interesting building.... it gets my camera finger twitching
It looks awesome, that building Tara. It became a wonderful shot.
beautiful!!
Cool shot!
Nature and a man made ediface combining to make art....nice..
this is spectacular ..
WONDERful!!!!!!
thats cool the way the light changes the perspective
I love the veiw here
it's golden, Tara, full of light and wonder... amazed about the cars too...smile
Very Nice. A warm and wonderful shot :)
Very awesome I love the color. WOW. it looks so much different.
When we got to the room, this was the dominate view out of the window, only the building was more of a black/darkish gray. The exception was the headlights straight across as a car was either started up or coming in to park. This all was happening straight across the way, 12 stories up! This is a way more attractive and vibrant view of this incredible structure, and a look we didn't see during our brief visit, although I now wish we had! I just got done stating in my site mail that I will try to keep my comments underneath my almost standard paragraph, and it looks like I just failed this miserably! I love the green and copper sunny glow to this.....sunset?? We were just getting back from the park...this would be about the time that everyone got there shots between the buildings, just before hopping the bus back! This looks so way mucg different in the early evening! SWEET!!!
WOW!!! Twelve stories of cars. Hard to believe that it would be designed like that. Brilliant capture and narrative. Dana
I've never seen John Hancock Tower from that POV -- quite remarkable shot!