From The Moderne

About the View:  This is the “stitched” panorama view looking south from the 30^th floor of The Moderne, a residential high-rise developed by Rick Barrett and managed by Siegel-Gallagher. This is the biggest condo out of three on the top floor, valued at $2.5 million and boasting 4,754 sq. ft. – not including the 1,080 feet wraparound terrace.

This is where we stand at the end of a languid and late summer day. On the river, rowing teams pace each other while the Edelweiss tourist vessel trolls nearby. Couples enjoy drinks on the riverfront patio of The Harp. The Wells Street Bridge is at this time stuck in the ‘up’ position, just another reminder to me that the photographs in my series are impermanent parts of the changing landscape of Milwaukee.

In one week, the bridge will be back and facades of new buildings at the eastern end of the old Park East freeway spur will be finished. In the coming years, the cityscape will include Northwestern Mutual’s new headquarters, more East Town high-rises, and of course the sister structure to the one we are currently looking from — the lakefront Couture building.

This is perhaps the best view of the city and certainly the most unobstructed.  This area west of the river is old with Milwaukee culture, surrounded by old master breweries, Turner Hall and the nostalgically stuck-in-time Old World Third Street. As such, no other building this far west is as tall as The Moderne.

To the west, you can see Bronzeville and Washington Heights clearly. To the east, old school and churches. To the north, Kadish Park and UW-Milwaukee.  I get a chance to pop into “Thirty 03”— the only condo on this level to have a sale pending — to get a shot looking up Old World Third where it becomes Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.

At this moment in time, I am standing on top of the Milwaukee world…standing in a place I will never be able to afford to live unless my lottery ticket hits.  From here, I can even smell Carson’s steaks from the restaurant directly below.

 

View From the Vantage Point

About the “Vantage Point” Series

Art photographer and journalist Brian Jacobson has always sought out the higher viewpoints when it came to his urban cityscape photographs. Much like architectural photographers at the turn of the 20th-century, there is a different feel and scope to buildings and street patterns as seen from the rooftops, high hills and bridges in Milwaukee. His photo series tries to see what is typically unseen by the pedestrian. (for further detail, refer to last week’s article)