Quick. Raise your hand if you think it’ll still be Willis Tower in thirty years. Didn’t think so. In this age of naming rights being sold with little regard to public consciousness, the public needs to retake the vernacular by nicknaming such buildings. We like “Big Black” for its powerful directness, a nickname that seems to match the building’s gritty posture in our sky. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s also the name of a seminal eighties rock band from Chicago, but we’ll keep that our little secret.
Audience choice: Big Willy
Best of Chicago 2009
Related Stories
Fine Arts Building Act One: The Golden Age, A Building Reborn The building itself is actually 138 years old, opening its doors in 1885 as the Studebaker Brothers’ Lake Front Carriage Repository. But they quickly outgrew their showplace. When the Fine Arts Building reopened in October 1898, it had been staged as an artist-only space. The building was a hit. In its first few years, artists and crafters of every kind…
