With Pictures: Our Most Popular Stories of 2014

Well, it's that time again..  The long year is at a close, and, as always, it brings with it a contagion of end-of-the-year wrap-ups, to which we now add our review of Architecture in Chicago over the past twelve months.  But rather than make our own selection, we leave it to you, dear readers.  Counting up, here are the fifteen stories you read most often in 2014:

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15: 20 Feet High? How about 23 stories? The forgotten sign that Trumped Trump

14:  Heartbreak Hotel   The Short, Troubled History of the Elysian/Waldorf Chicago

13: OD'ed on Outrage: The Donald's Sign is Very Bad. The Circus of Distraction is Worse.

12: Side Lot Windfall The latest twist in the epic Wrigley Building Chronicles

11:  Mecca Flat Blues: Tim Samuelson's Triumphant Exhibition is a Time Machine to a Vanquished Architecture

10:  Scraping Off the Wrigley: Is This the Beginning of the End for the Chicago's Historic Central Manufacturing District?

9: Tarot to Tacos - Upscaling of State north of Viagra starts small, with velvet

8: Bertrand Goldberg's Walton Gardens: The history of Rush Street through the Eyes of A Single Building

7: Along Chicago's New Skyscraper Row: One Rises, One Descends, and One Just Spreads it Around

6: Urban Spectacle in Clout City: The Harriet Rees House's $8 million Move.

And for an alternative take on how Landmarks and the city bureaucracy make life a living hell for people without clout, read the harrowing story of David and Saana McClain, here.

5: Pour le Concret: Chicago's new Riverwalk Emerges

4: Say Goodbye to the 1896 George H. Phillips house

3: 111 West Wacker: Abandoned Building To Luxury Tower.

Sometimes with good timing and a bit of luck, a big risk pays off in a major way.  Just last week, only months after the building's opening, Related sold 111 West for a 300% profit.

2: Lump of Coal in Chicago Architecture's Holiday Stocking: Verizon lands with a Thud on the Mag Mile

. . . and now, our most read post (probably because it remained featured on our home page since it was published) . . .

1: Chicago: City of Light? Mayor Rahm Sees Luminous Future for his Town's Architecture

. . . and so it goes.  As we begin 2015, there's a heap of interesting things going on, and we're working to get around to writing on at least some of them.   Thank you for following us.  See you back in January, and have a great New Year!