7 buildings we'd like the Transformers to destroy this summer

Trump Tower, Photo: clarkmaxwell/flickr.com

With production on a Transformers sequel heating up in Chicago this summer, the obvious next question is... What kinda stuff is gonna get blown up by the Decepticons? We can't help but wonder how the vehicles/robots that are "more than meets the eye" would redecorate our city in the sequel's heavily-CGIed final battle scene. If tax incentives aren't enough for the film industry to film more blockbusters here, Chicago can start offering these architectural eyesores—some of its least admired buildings according to a few staffers—for exploding on camera.

1. UIC, especially University Hall or the Behavioral Sciences Building.
"They're so ugly that I get depressed just walking past them," says a staffer. Nothing a little CGI alien robo smash couldn't cure.

2. Melanthios Greek Char House at 3116 North Broadway
One TOC ed has mixed emotions about this one. "I have nothing against the restaurant, which I haven't tried, but a faux Greek temple/villa/who knows? hybrid doesn't belong in Lakeview. I feel bad wishing the Transformers on a small business, though."

3. Trump Tower
"It's the biggest slab of mediocrity I've ever seen," says a staffer.

4. HARPO studios
Despite all the perks her minions receive for working there (free iPads plus the gym, spa, reputable cafeteria), Chicago's Oprah HQ (a former roller rink) has less feng shui than the Death Star.

5. Cellular Field
"Too big, soulless," says a TOC editor. Likely to give your mom vertigo in the cheap seats—the Cell has lousy views of the city. It pales in comparison to ballparks in Cinci, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, which are comfy and urban at the same time.

6. Soldier Field
One staffer says, "It looks like a spaceship crash landed into the old one." Chicago architecture critic Blair Kamin called it "the Eyesore on the Lake Shore."

7. McCormick Place
We have fantasies in which the Mayor decides this behemoth and its money issues just aren't worth the hassle, has it bulldozed and creates a natural park in its place. But then again, it's nice to one-up New York—McCormick dwarfs Manhattan's Javits Center. Suck on that, Bloomberg. Still, it would be awesome to see a robot stomp the crap out of it.