This story has been updated.
DOWNTOWN — An architect says pigs will fly in front of Chicago's Trump Tower if he can raise $250,000 — but city approval for the project might be hard to get.
The architect who wants to provide "visual relief to the citizens of Chicago" by blocking the Trump International Hotel & Tower's 20-foot-tall sign with golden balloon pigs has launched an ambitious fundraising campaign to make his renderings a reality.
The pigs would fly for one day only in August or September, and the big-ticket art display requires making the big pig balloons, city permits and renting a barge, among other costs.
"As designers this is a contribution we can make" to society, said Jeffrey Roberts of Chicago-based New World Design. "It's really building a community of people to react to something physically."
RELATED: Sick of Massive Trump Sign, Architect Wants Flying Golden Pigs To Block It
Roberts used to work at Skidmore Owings & Merrill, the architecture firm that designed the 98-story riverfront tower at 401 N. Wabash Ave.
Like many Chicagoans, Roberts thought the tower initially was "a nice piece of design" when it opened in 2009.
But he felt differently ("for God's sakes") once Trump's name was emblazoned across the tower three years ago.
"It wouldn’t matter if it said Trump or Smith or anything," Roberts said. "It’s just too big and it’s right in the middle of the city in a high-tourism zone. It’s just an inappropriate gesture."
While Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other aldermen have criticized the Trump sign, it's unlikely Roberts would get approval to fly the pigs with his current barge plan.
A city official told DNAinfo permits are not rejected based on content, but because of operational concerns. Barges parked in the river are there to do work —this art installation would muck up boat traffic on the river.
Roberts' proposal last year made widespread headlines and even caught the attention of Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, who gave his blessing to use "flying pigs" similar to the props at the band's shows.
Waters, who famously held the rights to his flying pigs so closely the remaining Pink Floyd members added testicles to theirs to avoid a spat, even gave Roberts a "digital model" of his pig balloons.
Roberts said $250,000 would allow his team to fly the pigs for one day each in Chicago and in front of Trump's tower in Las Vegas. He declined to share how much he's raised so far, saying he just started.
Roberts is raising money directly through his website and selling T-shirts toward the cause.
When asked why he's pursuing the pig balloons so strongly instead of raising money for another cause, he said "this is what we know how to do. We'll offer it up."
If the pigs don't fly, Roberts said he'll donate the fundraising to non-profits including Planned Parenthood, the National Resource Defense Council, International Refugee Assistance Program, MALDEF, ProPublica, the ACLU, The Trevor Project and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
