Spanish architect to design River Point sculpture

Santiago Calatrava's 2,000-foot-tall Chicago Spire never did get built, thanks to a recession that had nothing to do with his spectacular design. But Calatrava will leave his mark on Chicago, nevertheless.

The Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor, painter and all-around Renaissance man has been chosen to create an outdoor sculpture that will be installed at developers' expense in the park at River Point, the 52-story office tower at Lake and Canal that includes a 1.5-acre public park over rail lines.

The red leafy sculpture will be 29 feet tall and 25 feet wide. A press release describes it as having "twists in an outward, reaching spiral constructed of overlapping, leaf-like elements descending in scale from very large at the sculpture's base to very small at the outer reach of the … spiral form."

A model of the sculpture will be displayed at the Art Institute. In 15 months, the sculpture itself will appear.

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