Photo: One-car town

With 330 North Wabash in the background, Olafur Palsson caught the east tower parking ramp at Marina City on a quiet day. The clinical psychologist and medical researcher from North Carolina was in town on June 2 for a conference.

“I wanted to take pictures of the Marina City buildings because to me, the Marina City design seems to exemplify the possibilities for softer, more organic-looking and more natural urban environments for living and working than the typical square structures that surround them. In this particular picture, I therefore made sure to include the cold blue facade of straight lines and squares of the neighboring building in the background as a juxtaposition to make that point.”

Palsson says he found it “curious” that in such a traffic-congested city, the ramp contained just one parked car. Most people familiar with Marina City, however, would probably agree the ramps are generally quite full. (Click on image to view larger version.)