February 28, 2020

100 Kingshighway

By roads-rus

One of my earliest memories is being in a car on Kingshighway.  This St. Louis thoroughfare was one of the first urban, superhighway-like roads in America.  To this day I remember its sodium vapor lights and the sense of speed and freedom it created.  Today, Kingshighway passes many notable institutions like Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which has an international reputation, but now there’s a new reason to drive it.  St. Louis’ first Jeanne Gang property is about to open across the street from the historic Chase Park Plaza Royal Sonesta Hotel and it’s a stunner.

Jeanne Gang is one of my favorite architects.  Working from Chicago, she is the founder of Studio Gang, which already has offices in 3 American cities.  Gang is now designing structures internationally, like the new United States Embassy in Brazil.  I first became aware of her talent when Ruth and I spent time in Chicago’s Aqua Tower, which I wrote about.  I can’t wait to see her new Chicago designs like the Vista Tower and Solstice on the Park, another Mac property like 100 Kingshighway.   Mac is involved, so far, in the restoring of apartment properties in 3 Midwestern cities.

The construction of this new Mac residential tower began in February, 2018, and its first occupiers will move in this coming summer.  It soars 36 storys above Kingshighway and will contain 100 luxury apartments and 216 other units.  Those living on its upper levels will have great views of the Gateway Arch and Forest Park.  Over 380 feet tall, 100 Kingshighway will have some retail space on its lower floors.

Its design is innovative, containing 4-story stacked tiers in its dramatic rise.  There will be outdoor spaces on top of each tier.  Its leaf-shaped plan provides corner living rooms with double exposures that add to both the view and interior lighting.  A lot of glass is in this design.   Park Tower East is 2 blocks away and the eminent Chase is just across the street.

 

One day Jeanne Gang will be on the list of America’s best architects along with Frank Gehry and that other Frank from Chicago.

Hank

 

 

About roads-rus

Since the beginning, I've had to avoid writing about the downside of travel in order to sell more than 100 articles. Just because something negative happened doesn't mean your trip was ruined. But tell that to publishers who are into 5-star cruise and tropical beach fantasies. I want to tell what happened on my way to the beach, and it may not have been all that pleasant. My number one rule of the road is...today's disaster is tomorrow's great story. My travel experiences have appeared in about twenty magazines and newspapers. I've been in all 50 states more than once and more than 50 countries. Ruth and I love to travel internationally--Japan, Canada, China, Argentina, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, etc. Within the next 2 years we will have visited all of the European countries. But our favorite destination is Australia. Ruth and I have been there 9 times. I've written a book about Australia's Outback, ALONE NEAR ALICE, which is available through both Amazon & Barnes & Noble. My first fictional work, MOVING FORWARD, GETTING NOWHERE, has recently been posted on Amazon. It's a contemporary, hopefully funny re-telling of The Odyssey. View all posts by roads-rus
This entry was posted on Friday, February 28th, 2020 at 9:21 pm and posted in Missouri. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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