The proposed renovation to Helmut Jahn's recently saved James R Thompson Center will strip so much of the uniqueness from the postmodern building they may as well demolish it, says Owen Hopkins.

Heritage campaigners and postmodernism enthusiasts let out a great cheer last week as news emerged that Helmut Jahn's James R Thompson Center in Chicago was now safe from demolition.
However, for many, this was short-lived after they found out the building's fate. While the building, which has been under threat since 2015, is now safe from demolition, its developer plans to undertake drastic renovations to the near 40-year-old structure.
Fittingly, the project will be overseen by Jahn ? the studio that Helmut Jahn headed until his death earlier this year, and which is now led by his son. All good, you might think, that is, until you see the proposed renders. The curving angled exterior will be kept, it seems, but the mesmerising interior ? an awe-inspiring riot of colour and structure ? looks set to be transformed into a beige cavern of banality.
Top: renders show the plans for the James Thompson Center atrium. Above the current atrium
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised, as this has become a familiar pattern in the "renovation" of postmodern buildings in the US. In 2016, SFMOMA reopened after a major renovation and expansion by Snøhetta, which involved adding what one critic described as a "building-sized baked alaska slumped on the skyline" onto the back of Ma...