99% Invisible - Roman Mars Describes Chicago As It Is

Episode Date: January 26, 2024

A few years ago, at the very start of the pandemic, Roman Mars wrote an episode of 99pi in which he simply talked about design details in his house -- realizing that he, like the audience, didn't have many other places to go.  (You should check it out. It's called "Roman Mars Describes Things As They Are"-- it’s a real time capsule and a fan favorite.) Since then, he's been thinking about and wanting to record a companion episode out in the world.Over the next couple months, he's going to three cities that shaped who Roman is and how he thinks about design. We'll start in Chicago. Chicago is a design lover's paradise, from its carefully thought-out original grid to its exceptionally stellar flag design. The city is home to some of the most influential architecture in the US as well.Roman Mars Describes Chicago As It IsNote: This series is made possible by the new 2024 Lexus GX and SiriusXM. 

These special episodes of 99% Invisible are brought to you by the Lexus GX and Sirius XM. The new Lexus GX shows how an off-roading, overlanding vehicle can also be a true luxury vehicle. Every GX comes standard with Sirius XM, offering a rich array of music, sports, talk, and news. Huge thanks to the Lexus GX and Sirius XM for making this episode possible. Later, we'll meet up with a special guest, Sirius XM host Rachel Steele, and experience the GX and Sirius XM for making this episode possible. Later, we'll meet up with a special guest, Sirius XM host, Rachel Steele, and experience the GX firsthand. So stay tuned.

To learn more about the GX, visit lexus.com slash GX. And with every purchase, you'll get three months of Sirius XM free. The all new Lexus GX. Live up to it. And now, on with the show. It's 106 miles to it. And now, on with the show. It's 106 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a bag of popcorn.

Car snacks. It's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit it. This is 99% invisiblevisible. I'm Roman Mars in Chicago. A few years ago at the start of the pandemic, I wrote an episode where I just simply talked about the design details in my house because I knew we were going to be inside for a while and I thought it was important to find some joy and purpose in that. The episode is called Roman Marsh describes things as they are.

You should check it out. It is a real time capsule and often cited as one of our best episodes. Well since then, I wanted to record a companion episode of me free from my house, out in the world, narrating what I see the way that, you know, years of hosting 99% invisible has trained me to see. So over the next couple of months, we're going into three cities that shaped who I am and how I think about design. These bonus episodes are made possible by the new 2024, Lexus GX and Sirius XM, who

heard this idea and said, we're totally in. Just go make something cool. And so for me, the only place I could start was the city of Chicago. I took my longtime partner and new wife, Joy, so that I could have someone to tell stories to. Do you want to give your imitation of what it's like to walk around with me?

Sure. Let me tell you about this roof. Let me tell you about this curb cut. It's a delight. I don't know how I became Yogi Bear in your mind. Chicago is a design lover's paradise. So much thought has gone into every little aspect of the city, starting with the street grid itself.

So in 1830, before Chicago even existed, the state of Illinois decided to lay out plots along the Chicago River to sell in order to help pay for the canal that was going to connect Lake Michigan to the Mississippi. So Surveyor James Thompson drew the first plat. That's what it's called. It's called a plat. I like the flat-a's kind of make me giggle. Plat. And that plat was the foundation of how Chicago streets are laid out today. So he drew straight streets uniformly 66 feet wide, which was actually

the full length of a surveyors chain. So he just kind of like as big as possible. And then alleys are 16 feet wide by secting each block and any building that was already there that was already built that was in the way of his streets, they were forced to move to fit on the grid, which wasn't that big of a deal in 1830 because only like 300 people lived in Chicago at the time or pre-Chicago at the time. In 10 years, it would be 10 times that in Chicago at the time or pre-Chicago at the time. In ten years, it would be ten times that in Chicago. That original plat was only a half a mile in area, but over two centuries, Chicago grew in exactly the way Thompson laid out that uniform regular spacing and it eventually

encompassed over 230 square miles. It's as close as any city is to a true mathematical grid. The reason I'm telling you this right here on the corner of state and Madison is because this is the zero, zero point of that perfect grid. So the zero, zero point was picked in 1901 and this is when the real power of the grid comes into

full effect. And this is the Brennan plan. Tell me more. Tell me more about the Brennan plan. So Chicago had grown so much between 1830 and 1900. They were annexing all these adjacent communities and they were all snapping into the grid. But the street names and addresses were all a big old mess because other towns had, you know, Chicago Avenue here and Madison here

and Michigan here and they were all duplicated and messy and the numbers were messy, just sort of, you know, chaotic. Okay, so a private citizen named Edward Brennan approached Approach City Council with a plan where the street numbers would locate properties relative to a central X axis, like an east-west axis, and a north-south Y axis. And the imaginary zero-zero center of the point being this intersection of Madison State and we're in the loop downtown.

Okay, so, and once you understand this system, the address will tell you where you are relative to this point Like which side of the street you're on the streets even have Those coordinates like on the street signs themselves So like Fullerton Street is an east-west street that when you're there you're 2400 north of this point You know like it's just it's a lot. It's hard to explain. Yeah You have to kind of experience it but just know that it works and it is really cool And once you get to know it, you'll never be lost in Chicago. Okay, you know how much I love the Chicago flag, right?

I do It has a beautiful flag. It's a beautiful flag. Do you remember what it looks like? Yeah, okay There are two fields of light blue. The field is the back. The field is the sort of, so there's white field. White field, there are two blue stripes. Yes.

Light blue. Horizontal stripes representing the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. And we have some red stars. Yeah, how many? Ah! Four? Yes, four six-pointed red stars across the middle.

And the four stars represent different pivotal moments in Chicago's history. So one of them is the founding of Fort Dearborn, which preceded Chicago. One of them is the great Chicago Fire. One of them is the Columbian Exposition, which is the white city. And the last one is the Century of Progress exhibition. So I think this flag is perfect and probably shouldn't change, but I would consider adding one star

for the Thompson Plan that made the grid and one star for the Brennan Plan. That's how important I think it is. That's how critical I think it is to, you know, what makes Chicago, Chicago. It's certainly more important than the Century of Progress exhibition. It's more flag worthy. It's more flag worthy than that.

You know what I'm saying? Okay, anyway. Okay, so while we're in this kind of area, we're about a 10 minute walk from one of my favorite buildings. And you're going to hear me say that a lot, that this is my favorite building. And every time I'm sincere. Okay, so let's fast forward there. All right, so the name of the building

is actually on the building. It's the Manadnok building, which is a great Manadnok building. It's a great name. It was constructed in 1891. It's 16 stories high. OK, and so I want you to, I'm not trying to quiz you, but I want you to tell me what you see when you see this building,

like what are some of its characteristics. Okay, well it's massive, but not in the same way, like super tall like these other skyscrapers. Yeah, it feels heavy. But yes, it feels heavy, dense. It is heavy, it's very heavy. That was one of its problems.

It was like, it was sinking for a while and they had to shore it up. It's very heavy. That was one of its problems. It was like it was sinking for a while and they had to shore it up. It was it's so heavy. What is it made out of? It's a dark brown brick. Yeah. So this is, that's the first key thing to it. This is the tallest masonry skyscraper in the world. So it is completely made of brick, at least well the north half of it is. And those bricks are the reason why it's so heavy. So like if you could imagine like this thing was built the real old-fashioned way like a pyramid you know a brick on top of a brick on top of a brick that's why it's so heavy that's's why, and it's really significant

for being a very big masonry skyscraper. So the other thing you notice, the consequence of this brick construction, you notice how it's flared at the base and curves inward as it goes up. You know what I'm saying? If you look through the display window at the hat shop, you'll see that the walls are super thick.

Like that's not just like a frame. That's like actually the wall. It has to be that thick. It's about, it's'll see that the walls are super thick. Like that's not just like a frame. That's like actually the wall. It has to be that thick. It's about, it's about six feet wide at the base and about 18 inches wide at the top. And this is all because, you know, for it to have, yeah, that's bigger than your arms and then, and then little tiny. And so this is necessary because all the weight of the upper floors have to be like held by the bricks at the bottom.

And so they have to be super wide to sort of to support everything up above. And it makes it like kind of like a pyramid. I mean, not, you know, not, it's obviously not as dramatic and only swings out a little bit. But if it wasn't for steel frame construction, all buildings would be pyramids if they got tall enough.

Because what you mostly see when you see bricks on the surface of buildings are not structural bricks. They're like skin. They're like there's a steel frame and they put bricks over it to make it look like a brick building, but it's not made of bricks inside. So actually the southern half of this building

has some modern construction with some frames in it, but this part is completely masonry. And that's why it is so weird and kind of that heaviness you feel it, you know, it's kind of cool but it's because of the way it was built. It's also like really dark brick which is right. It's just like a choice. So I want to get to two other buildings that are my favorite buildings and they're just north of the river which which is not too far from here. But on the way there, I want to check out the sign on the Chicago theater. OK, on the marquee behind the middle sea of the word Chicago, OK,

is a Y shaped symbol. You can kind of miss it, but it's this Y shaped symbol. And this is what's called the Municipal Device of Chicago. It's a simplified map of Chicago that shows the river splitting into the north and south branches. That's what the Y comes from. Since 1917, this has been the official symbol of the city, and it's been used on official buildings and on city vehicles and stuff like that.

I noticed it a lot on control boxes and like the gates of parks and stuff like that. You'll see a Y there and that means Chicago. It was used a lot in the beginning of the 20th century, less so later on. You wouldn't see it as much as the city of Chicago flag, like around the city, but you'll find Ys everywhere. And so it's kind of fun to do a little scavenger hunt

for why is around and so we should do that while we're here. You like a scavenger hunt? I do love a good scavenger hunt. I mean because life moves pretty fast and if you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it. So this gorgeous thing right here is the Wrigley building and it is so fancy. It is covered in white terracotta, is that great silver skybridge in the middle, which I really love that thing actually. And what I can't get over when it comes to this thing is that this was all bought and paid for with chewing gum money. It was designed as the Wrigley headquarters construction started in 1920. Wrigley was kind of late to the chewing gum game.

He was the serial entrepreneur, so he sold soap. And as a promotion, he would give away baking powder with the purchase of the soap. And then it turned out that the baking powder was more popular than the soap, so he started selling the baking powder. And then as a promotion for the baking powder, he started giving away sticks of chewing gum instead of baking powder. And then he learned that the sticks of chewing gum were more popular than the baking powder, and so he just started selling chewing gum from there.

When he found chewing gum, that he found his true calling, and it paid for this building, it paid for like Wrigley Field is named after Wrigley. I just find that so kind of amazing how much people spent on chewing gum. Turn of the center. I sure did.

I'm sure did. Okay, so are you tired? You wanna give up? Are you thirsty for more? I'm thirsty for did. Okay, so are you tired? You want to give up? Are you thirsty for more? I'm thirsty for more. Okay. Okay, so then let's turn over here and cross the street. This is one of my favorite buildings.

This is the Tribune Tower. And when I lived here, it was home of the Chicago Tribune now it's the private apartments actually that's kind of surprised me until I was doing some research before. This building is the result of a design competition that was held in 1922 it's this sort of neogothic vertical lined skyscraper on the bottom and it has this like gothic cathedral hat on its head. Yeah, yeah, there's a lot going on up there. There's a lot.

It even has flying buttresses up there on the top. On a real cathedral, those buttresses would hold up the walls, but here they don't do anything. They're just there to look like a cathedral buttress. They're kind of silly. They're just decorative. It is this extremely weird monstrosity of a building. Like I don't know, like I kind of like it.

I don't know. I like it too. I mean I kind of like it, but like its problem was that when this design competition was happening modernism was just getting going really. And skyscraper architecture was celebrating clean lines and simplicity. And then this design won the contest and the sort of forward thinking critics just hated it. But, you know, I think it's all right.

I think it's interesting, you know, at least. Now what's really cool is the building that isn't here. The second place finisher of this design competition from the Chicago Tribune Architecture Contest was a design by Alial Saranen. He was this Finnish architect and he's the father of Eero Saranen who became one of the most important architects of the 20th century. So Alial Saranen's Tribune Tower design, it won $20,000 as a second-placed finisher.

It was never built, but the design was shared with the public and those critics who hated the winning design, they flipped for this tower, the Saranen's Tower. It was the soaring setback tower, had these strong vertical lines. It had a huge effect on 20th century architecture. It influenced a bunch of skyscrapers all over the country. And it's probably the most important silver medalists ever next to Nancy Kerrigan. So that was the first silver medalist I can think of. But Sarenin's design was way more important

than this building, even though this building got built. It has way more effect in the world. I find that really fascinating. But the best thing about this weird goth building that actually got built is not the architecture itself, but the architecture embedded on the side of it, which we have to get up close to see. So all along the first floor of the Tribune Tower, you'll see these like little bits and bricks and fragments of other buildings from around the world. Like it's this little

museum just on the street here. So when Colonel McCormick was the publisher of the Tribune in the 1920s. He encouraged his foreign correspondence, I guess you could say, generously to collect artifacts from around the world. He asked to steal them and bring them back. He had a nice little collection. Some people sent them, like, so would there be demolitions or, you know, like extensive rehabs of historical places? Knowing that McCormack, you know, collected these, they would send them to him. So some of them were probably gotten, you know,

above board, but I think they were mostly stolen. Okay, so they had this collection. And so when the building was finished in 1925, they embedded them in the facade with plaques indicating, you know, what they were called and their place of origin. And it's been added to over the decades as well. So if you walk around there you can see pieces of really amazing sights. So like... The Taj Mahal, the Alamo, the Great Pyramid, and the Great Wall of China up there.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's one of those ones that wasn't taken with anyone's knowledge. The Great Pyramid, and the Great Wall of China up there. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's one of those ones that wasn't taken with anyone's knowledge. There's the Berlin Wall here too. And then around the corner here, this is the one that always struck me, is that there's even like a twisted piece of metal from the World Trade Center Towers, which I really kind of, it kind of surprised me and I find it notable and interesting. It's sort of behind the scaffolding there, but it's really different than all the other pieces.

Most of the pieces are pieces of stone and cornices and this is the piece of metal. So this next thing isn't specific to Chicago, so you can appreciate this whatever city you're in, but it's a very big feature, I think, in Chicago. and that's all the revolving doors. Did you notice all the revolving doors? I did. Yeah, so like everything has a revolving door. Yeah. The revolving door is really important to Chicago because of all the extreme weather, but they were introduced to America from Germany by theophilus van Kennell in the late 1800s and he started this revolving door company and it advertised the doors as they cannot be left open, blown open or slammed. They're always closed yet

allowing the passage of persons. In other words, they're always open, always closed which is a big deal in a city like Chicago with its extreme weather. So every time a conventional swinging door is opened, the HVAC system has to compensate and that wastes thousands of dollars of energy costs per year. So there are lots of revolving doors here, but here's the thing. I mean how do you feel about using revolving doors? I find them difficult. Yes, so most people do. This is normal. Okay. I thought it was just me. No. No. No. So for safety reasons, there's always a conventional door beside revolving doors. And most people don't really like revolving doors all that much because they feel claustrophobic, they feel weird. You know, it's just one of those

things. So buildings use a lot of signage to kind of nudge people into using the revolving door. And at fancy buildings, the doorman will like start it swinging, you know? Right. Like give it a little nudge or push. Exactly, so that you jump into it rather than, they don't put a person usually on the swinging door.

You have to do that one yourself. But if you followed the doorman's suggestion, you'll go through the revolving door. So revolving doors are really great. They're there for a reason. And you should try to use them in terms of like energy usage if you can. But it's totally normal that if you feel like,

that's uncomfortable. The other way they try to make them better is as they got bigger, they're kind of less claustrophobic. But older buildings, like a lot of them around here are still like little revolving doors Which feel uncomfortable So I want to Show you one thing that's significant

But maybe a little more abstract that I point to why I think Chicago is this paragon of design But I want to cross over here because there's a lot of cops There's a lot of cops in Chicago actually. And I'm unpopular with the Chicago Police Department. Why are you so unpopular with the Chicago Police Department? So that building standing alone near Navy Pier, that's Navy Pier, like extending out into the lake. That building, that tall building, is Lake Point Tower. And if you notice, it is the only skyscraper east of Lakeshore Drive.

It's doing its own thing. It is. And Lakeshore Drive is this big parkway that runs along Lake Michigan. There was already a city ordinance that limited construction east of Lake Short Drive, but this building kind of snuck in through a loophole. Luckily it's a pretty nice building. That loophole was definitively closed in 1971 with the Lakefront Protection Ordinance, which banned all commercial construction by the lake.

When I lived here, Chicago Tribune columnist, Eric Zorn, made a list of all the best architectural features in Chicago, and he cited the lakefront ordinance as one of the top pieces of, quote, unquote, architecture in Chicago, which was such a cool idea to me. The lakefront didn't get cluttered up and cut off from the average person

with this dense cluster of waterfront towers or docks. And that insight about what made Chicago so good kind of blew my mind. Like he, it sort of made me think about cities in a totally different way. This place is known as the epicenter of skyscraper design for the 20th century. And the buildings of course have a lot to do with it.

But I also think it's kind of how the whole city works together, that it's key architectural strength, like the space and the vistas and the vantage points make observing and appreciating the architecture all the better. Like New York has amazing built-ins. I know you love New York. I'm not competing, like there's no competition between better. New York has amazing buildings. I know you love New York. I'm not competing. There's no competition between Chicago and New York.

It has amazing buildings, but they're all kind of crammed in on narrow streets, and I appreciate that density. It works really well for New York, but you could be walking along, and all of a sudden the Chrysler building's in front of you, and I could miss it. You know what I mean?

It's kind of a strange thing, and it could really surprise you. But all these ordinances and conventions and respect for the whole somehow elevates Chicago. Like the buildings talk to each other. As Guy Scraper from the 1990s will borrow and modify a motif from a neighboring building that was erected like 70 years before,

the NBC building has buttresses on it because it's right next to the Chicago Tribune. So the Tribune Tower had buttresses at the top that did nothing. The NBC building has buttresses that actually do something, but they're there because of the other buttresses. And having that space across the river allows for that cross-generational conversation. And it's just made possible because of the simple fact that we can see it all together, that architects really cared how everything looked and worked together. And that's why Chicago, to me, is a city like no other.

And things like the lakefront ordinance are a part of that. It's like a respect for taking in the hole and having this cohesive city in terms of its architecture and design. So this is like the exception that proves the rule. This like building standing outside of the normal rules. But luckily again, it's a pretty good looking building. Sounds like that deserves a star on the flag.

The lakefront ordinance does. For sure, I think so too. OK, so I want to go to our last stop. We're already at our last stop. I want to take us to my favorite building. No, your favorite building. And it's kind of the building that kind of started it all for me. But to get there, we have to go the Chicago way.

What's the Chicago way? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one to yours at the hospital, you send one to his to the morgue. That's the Chicago Way. But in this specific case, I mean taking Chicago Avenue West to where it meets the north branch of the river. We'll get there after the break.

This special bonus episode of 99% invisible is brought to you by the 2024 Lexus GX and Sirius XM. The Lexus GX is at the apex of high end luxury and high end utility. Even though you can totally imagine the GX sitting in a corporate parking lot. Another passionate group found the GX and claimed it as this highly capable, reliable, modifiable, and luxurious off-road and overlanding vehicle. People ask, what is overlanding? And you'll ask 10 people and you'll have 10 different answers. Well, I'll give you my definition. It's a fancy word for sleeping out in the boonies in your car.

Getting off the grid and knowing that you have the Capability to go off the grid that is Eric Kavanaugh from Lexus We had a fun time geeking out about all the GX could do on all these different terrains Even though we were idling on a roof of a parking garage on Goose Island in the middle of Chicago One of the features that comes standard on the overtrail model is multi-train select features that comes standard on the Overtrail model is multi-train select. So you'll see here this now unlocks a variety of different settings to help you navigate those trains better. So if you wanted to go through sand or you may find yourself in deep snow or dirt, the entire system is now going to recalculate

and adjust the suspension acceleration brakes to make that the best experience. Now when you're in multi-train select, you then hit your panoramic view monitor and you're now seeing this bird's eye view. This is called the multi-train monitor. So this is an additional view where you're getting really full clear view of where you are, right? You might be, if you're overlanding on that trail, this may be a side of a cliff, right? Or this could be, this is in front of you, this may be a tree stump right here.

So when I go out off-roading, overlanding, having visibility on your car is like the biggest thing you could ask for. And to that end, I have to mention my favorite feature, which I think exemplifies the 2024 Lexus GX. It's so simple and in true 99 PI fashion. It's something that is not fancy and could be totally overlooked. But it tells you something about all the thought that went into the GX. And that is the shape of the front hood. One of the things that frustrates me about the big thought that went into the GX. And that is the shape of the front hood. One of the things that frustrates me about the big car that I have that fits all the kids that Joy mostly drives

is I can't judge where the end of the hood is. It kind of slopes down and I end up thinking I'm way closer to whatever it is in front of me than I actually am. It's absurd. I think I'm two feet away from a parked car and I'm actually six feet away. But this new Lexus elegantly solved my problem.

The hood vents there, you see how they're higher, the indentations up top. That is designed so that when you're off-roading that you have good reference of where the end of your vehicle is. And paying attention to that need and solving for that function made the whole vehicle more striking. That right there, it is part of the look. You can see it from the outside that gives it that very kind of modular, aggressive stance. It's not so rounded maybe where you might see

in the current generation. So the design solves the problem that makes the GX more functional in more places, and that affects the look, and that look makes the GX stand out. It's all about design iteration and an open, ongoing conversation between Lexus designers and engineers and this specific, passionate customer base asking for things that a group of people in a room, no matter how smart or well-intentioned they might be, could never anticipate on their own. That is the Lexus GX.

But when you're out there in the middle of nowhere, a capable, reliable vehicle isn't the only thing you need. You need entertainment. You need company. You need companionship. And when there is no cell signal to be found and no FM radio towers for hundreds of miles, you can still turn on Sirius XM satellite radio and hear the voice of Rachel Steele. My name is Rachel Steele and I am a DJ on two classic rock channels, classic vinylinyl, Channel 26, and Classic Rewind, Channel 25.

Huge Classic Rock fan, huge Rock fan in general. So tell me, what is the difference between Classic Rewind and Classic Vinyl? So we consider the Classic Rock time period to be from the early 60s through the late 80s. So Classic Vinyl, we cover the early 60s through the early 70s, and then we pick it up with the mid 70s to the late 80s on Classic Rewind. Jared Polin Tell me, like, when you turn on Channel 25,

what is the reward waiting for you? Tiana Kemp I think with Classic Vinyl and Classic Rewind both, you get the ability to classic rewind both, you get the ability to reminisce, especially going back to those early days and hearing songs that you grew up with. It's always comfort. I think I always try to reach the listeners in a comfortable way. In the car, I feel like I am a companion.

I think all DJs are a companion. And what we have in common is the music. So I love to be able to share stories and bring these artists to life. And I think the car is the perfect opportunity to do that. You know, people kick back and relax. And especially in a car as beautiful as the Lexus GX. I would love to kick back and relax

and listen to music in a vehicle like that. To learn more about the GX, lexus.com slash GX. And with every purchase you'll get three months of SiriusXM free. The all new Lexus GX. Live up to it. And now me and Joy back out on the street in Chicago. So this is an office building in the old Montgomery Ward complex. It was designed by Manuro Yamasaki.

And I have to admit, when I lived here, I rarely looked up at this building. It's a standard modern sort of cereal box with graph paper on it. It does have these notable like white concrete columns on the four corners. It makes it kind of a little more chunky. It's still sleek but chunky. And I pass it every day on my way home from work from WBC. I would walk past this over the river and then catch the blue line home to Logan Square. And part of the reason you can ignore it

is there's like you've seen, there's like so many cool buildings in Chicago. It's kind of hard to stand out as a skyscraper in Chicago. But regardless, even with this sort of blue-green tinted glass, it just didn't grab me. And then I took the Chicago Architecture Center's boat tour. And the docent told me why this building has those thick concrete corner supports. First, they open up the floor plan so that you can make your office as open an area as you want, because there's no internal walls that need to be there. But most importantly, to me anyway, was that the Montgomery Ward Company prided

itself on having this sort of egalitarian hierarchy, and they didn't want executives fighting over who got a corner office. So they designed a building without any possibility of a corner office at all. It's now been converted into luxury condos and it's simply known as the Montgomery. And I bet the developers like hate those that coms with all their heart, you know, wishing they could sell a corner condo that doesn't exist. But that story makes me love this building. And so I think it's great. That story has stayed with me for years and I've taken the Chicago Architecture Boat Tour.

You know, I've now five or six times we're going to do it tomorrow. It's really, really stunning. And because of that tour, I think of this as one of my favorite buildings. And keep in mind, this is a building I rarely even bothered to crane my neck to look at. I really did pass it daily. But I've learned to appreciate its aesthetics more as I retold that story again and again. And it's why I contend that story is the universal language of design, even more than aesthetics. Like, don't get me wrong, I love pretty things, but sometimes prejudice and bias and ignorance and taste get in the way of me loving a brilliant structure with a great story to tell.

And that revelation led to 99% invisible. So this building is in many ways why I do what I do today. I love that. Yeah. So you haven't spent a lot of time here in Chicago. I haven't. I've only visited once before and I haven't really roamed around or explored. It's nice isn't it?

I'm excited to see more. I'm excited about that boat tour. Yes, the boat tour is the best. It really is. So you'll hear maybe somebody's tours again. Yeah, yeah. But it's, it's really worth it to be on the river looking at everything. Yeah. Anyway, well thanks for joining me in Chicago. Thanks for taking me. And thank you everybody for joining us in this special Chicago episode of 99% Invisible brought to

you by the Lexus GX and SiriusXM. And thanks to Eric Kavanaugh, Rachel Steele, and Joy Usan for being my special guests. The new Lexus GX showcases how aesthetic appeal complements utility, proving luxury and capability can coexist. And when you throw Sirius XM in there, you have everything you need to be out in the farthest reaches while still being connected to a passionate community of music loving DJs, world class talkers, comedians and thinkers. To learn more about the GX and Sirius XM in Lexus vehicles, visit lexus.com.

The all-new Lexus GX. Live up to it. Throughout the episode, maybe you noticed me saying a few non-sequiturs, maybe some stuff that didn't make sense, but I'm hoping they made sense to at least some of you, because I wasn't just saying things, I was quoting things. There were five, yes, five Chicago movie quotes in this episode. If you think you can name all five movies, head to 99pi.org, go to this episode's show page and see how many you got right.

While you're there, you can look at me posing with a fancy car and you can stream your first how many you got right. app. Go to 99pi.org to test your Chicago movie knowledge and subscribe to SiriusXM. 99% Invisible was reported and edited this week by me, Roman Mars, with production help from Isabelle Angel and Sarah Bake, mixed and sound designed by Dara Hirsch, music by Swan Real. Special thanks this week to McGrath Lexis of Chicago. Kathy too is our executive producer, Delaney Hall is our senior editor, Kurt Colestead is the digital director. The rest of the team includes Chris Barube, Jason De Leon, Vivian Le, LaShamma Dawn, Christopher Johnson, Martin Gonzalez, Joe Rosenberg, Gabriela Gladney, Kelly Prime, and Jacob Multanada-Madina. The 99% of his logo was created by Stefan Lawrence.

We are part of the Stitcher and SiriusXM podcast family, now headquartered six blocks north in the Pandora building. created by Stefan Lawrence. We are part of the Stitcher and SiriusXM podcast family, now headquartered six blocks north in the Pandora building. In beautiful uptown Oakland, California. Our headquarters online is 99pi.org.