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Hubbard Place's Garage-Side 'Artistic Design' Riles Neighbors

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A striped paint job in "WInnebago colors" is consuming a blank parking garage wall at Hubbard Place. Chicago Architecture Blog's recent investigation into the nearly-finished 450-unit apartment tower revealed the design to the general public but any neighboring residents looking onto the garage's east facade will have been well aware of the explosive patterning from the get-go. It turns out a small contingent of disgruntled folk at the neighboring Sexton condos (360 W Illinois) are trying to rally outspoken opposition to the wall treatment— one of them wanted Curbed to know about it, after all. We'll leave the judgment to our readership. State your case for or against in the comments and/or express your leanings in our one-click poll, open till Monday.

An excerpt from Christine Eckert Nentwig's complaint, posted to the Hubbard Place Facebook page:

I appreciate the attempt to avoid having your neighbors look at a blank wall, but the 70's Winnebago color scheme (orange and yellow) is positively atrocious and was NOT reflected in the original design presented to the neighborhood or the Alderman. I have yet to encounter one person in my building (Sexton) or any surrounding building who is not horrified by it. And another, from Cristin Zweig:

The orange and brown "artistic design" that's been painted on the side of the parking garage is awful. Truly, painfully, disgustingly awful. When a few stripes went up on the side of the parking garage, we thought it was a joke. In the Sexton, we were all asking each other "they have to be kidding, right?" Not one compliment or positive thing was said about the painting. For a beautiful building's design to be ruined by this paint job is a shame.

Poll results

·Hubbard Place Facebook Page
·Inside the New Habitat on Hubbard [Chicago Architecture Blog]
·Hubbard Place Hits Its Stride, Tops Out in River North [Curbed Chicago]