What kind of building is this???

frankmcr · #1 02-19-2020, 04:58 PM

The elevated train I take every now & then goes past a weird-looking structure on top of a building. The structure is shaped like the upper half of a capital D. The curved part of the half D is roofed. The straight part and the sides are all of glass. The thing is pretty darn big, I'm estimating at least a couple stories high and maybe half that in depth. There doesn't seem to be anything inside, it's just this big empty strange shape. It has to been designed for some specific purpose, I think.

Anybody know what that purpose is?

Rockysdad · #2 02-19-2020, 05:05 PM

An idea of where it is and / or a photo might help to sort it out.

frankmcr · #3 02-19-2020, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockysdad

An idea of where it is and / or a photo might help to sort it out.

It's in Chicago, atop a building in a mostly light industry area. The train goes by at a pretty good clip so picture taking is difficult. I did put some work into the description.

robj144 · #4 02-19-2020, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankmcr

It's in Chicago, atop a building in a mostly light industry area. The train goes by at a pretty good clip so picture taking is difficult. I did put some work into the description.

Maybe use Google Maps and Earth and take a screenshot and post here.

Tele1111 · #5 02-19-2020, 05:39 PM

Hey frankmcr,

I think you’re describing the old corporate offices of Palm. As in the Palm Pilot.
At the time, I believe they were owned by US Robotics. A google search turned up nothing, but that bit of information is in my memory. I could be wrong, but that’s what I remember.

Mark

RP · #6 02-19-2020, 05:55 PM

Is this it???

frankmcr · #7 02-19-2020, 06:22 PM

It's like a shed, a really big shed on top of a building, except not shaped like any shed I've seen before. The three glass sides are made up of glass panels, sort of like those on a greenhouse but I don't see any plants (or anything else) inside. I would guess from the overall design that the point is to admit lots of light from the three glass sides but none at all from the fourth (roofed) side. Does that ring a bell?

I'm not trying to stump anybody, I really would like to know. I've seen it a dozen times & always thought "Huh, wonder what that is" but for some reason it just started bugging me this most recent time.

EDIT - Here - imagine this sliced in half top to bottom; the sliced off half is gone and there's a wall of glass panels where the slice was made. It looks sort of like that. (Except it's definitely not a house.)

https://www.steelmasterusa.com/wp-co...s/eva-home.jpg

architype · #8 02-19-2020, 10:42 PM

It sounds like you are describing a light well, or maybe more accurately, a light scoop.
The architect may have been trying to get natural light into the middle of the building. The orientation may be trying to scoop south East and west light since that would track the movement of the sun throughout the day and the curved shape will act a little like a parabolic reflector to maximize and distribute the sunlight.
That form is also sexier than a shed on the roof.....it caught your attention.