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Up or Coming

 

The Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel recently opened in the Aqua Tower designed by renowned architect Jeanne Gang. Interior public spaces were designed by Jim Hamilton of Graven Interiors, and Swedish hospitality designer Christian Lundwall designed the guest room interiors.

 

The Next Big Thing!

 

RELEASE FALL 2011!

         

 

Today's Poll Question

 City Focus

Vacant lot in Chicago's North Lawndale Neighborhood

What is the best way to revitalize Chicago's poorer neighborhoods?

 

Revive their infrastructure, capital improvements

Encouraging economic, business investment

Constructing, providing affordable housing

Cleaning up high crime areas

Creating greater local employment opportunities

 

  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

 

CONGRESS PARKWAY

IMPROVEMENT

Already underway, CDOT is upgrading and improving Congress Parkway from Michigan Avenue to Wells Street. These plans have been in the works since 2005. The project is being funded by $9 million in federal stimulus money.

Recently, the area surrounding Congress Parkway has been one of the fastest growing employment, residential, higher educational and commercial areas in the city. These changes have altered the travel patterns and significantly increased the amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the area.

Improvements will include  a realigned roadway to eliminate weaving lanes, narrow and reduce lanes to provide wider sidewalks to accommodate heavier pedestrian traffic and landscape improvements. for sidewalks and medians, use of street furniture, bicycle lanes, decorative lighting and refurbishment of CTA Blue Line Station entrances. Scheduled completion is 2012.

 

 

In The News...

Local


 

Renderings by GBBN Architects

 

DEPAUL UNIVERSITY DIGS ITS NEW THEATER SCHOOL

Paul Kulon | Feature Writer | January 24, 2012 – Chicago, IL  - Don’t let the hole in the ground fool you. A real drama is underway at the corner of Racine and Fullerton. Six months after groundbreaking, the opening act of DePaul’s new Theater Building is well underway. Heavy machinery guided by men with orange vests move the earth, pour concrete and lay pipes as they transform a parking lot into a modern arts facility.

The architect of this play is Cesar Pelli, former dean of Yale architecture with a portfolio full of notable international projects. DePaul has made an unusual move selecting someone as creative as Pelli for the commission. When a ripe opportunity for architectural expression like the Art Museum is used to build another conservative, uninspired building, expectations are modest. Yet even DePaul is realizing that to be attractive to prospective students, it needs compelling architecture.

With a spectrum of space from a 250 seat theater to an intimate design studio, the modern facility is sure to energize DePaul’s theater and music programs, which have been outperforming their dated buildings for years. DePaul and Pelli have emphasized the design’s integration into its environment, with plenty of glass for transparency, allowing the passerby to get a glimpse of artistic production. The campus and the Lincoln Park neighborhood will be benefited by the creative work that will transpire inside these walls.

Unfortunately, the design of the exterior leaves something to be desired. Although the building plays with cantilevered planes and geometric shapes, it is all rather subdued. The building appears heavy and stocky with the risk of being overshadowed by the adjacent Loft Right. A major focal point in the renderings is an illuminated glass façade on Fullerton Ave, but will this element be largely irrelevant during the day? Finally, the tasteless electronic news ticker above the corner entrance, can cheapen the integrity of the project associated with conservatory arts.

A lot remains to be seen before the construction workers are replaced with actors. The new Theater School is not set to open until March 2013.

 

Comments?  Email us at  info@chicagoarchitecturetoday.com

 

Also in the news locally..

 

The best (and worst) in Chicago architecture 2011
WBEZ Blog

Architecture and urban design forecast for 2012

Chicago Tribune (blog)

Old Town School set to open new concert venue, classroom space
Chicago Tribune

Best architecture of 2011: Despite the ongoing ...
Chicago Tribune (blog)

Brininstool and Lynch leave BKL Architecture
Chicago Tribune (blog)

Jeanne Gang: Reversing the River Could Transform Chicago
Chicagomag.com

 

National


 

PARKING MOVES TO THE NEXT LEVEL IN MIAMI

  

         

 

By Lidia Dinkova | MiamiHerald.com | Pull over into the designated space. Turn off the engine. And enjoy the oceanfront view as you escalate in a glass elevator that takes you, while you are sitting in your car, to the front door of your apartment.

 

No, this is not the latest Disney ride.

 

The $560 million Jetsonesque tower will rise in Sunny Isles Beach as part of a collaboration between Germany-based Porsche Design Group and a local developer, Gil Dezer. It likely will be the world’s first condominium complex with elevators that will take residents directly to their units while they are sitting in their cars


Read more: miamiherald.com
 

 

Comments? Email us at info@chicagoarchitecturetoday.com

Also in the news Nationally..

Sleek, Chic Hangout ... a Garage
Miami Beach, FL

Santa Monica’s “green street” breaks ground

Santa Monica, CA

Long Beach thinks big with plans for a $320 million Seaside Village

Los Angeles, CA…

Architect Michael Graves receives Notre Dame's 2012 Driehaus Prize
South Bend, IN

Four Wichita sites nominated for National Register of Historic Places
Wichita, KS

Magnificent Wright house up for auction
Rockford, IL

New Additions Planned For Nashville Skyline
Nashville, TN

Additional stories in Archives

 

International


 

 TURKISH TOWER LOOKS TO SOAR 

 

 

BRUCE MILLAR \\ Construction is scheduled to begin early next year on what its developers are billing as Europe’s tallest tower. The plans highlight the scope of Istanbul’s ambitions as Turkey’s commercial capital and as a growing power within the region. However, the exact height of the mixed-use building, including super-high-rise apartments, is not yet clear, and the tower will not stand in Europe. Please visit ft.com for complete story. 

 Comments? Email us at info@chicagoarchitecturetoday.com

 

Also in the news Internationally..

 

Bad Boy Architects & China's New Face - China
 

Guangzhou tower: The sky's the limit - China
 

World's First Solar Building Exporting Energy Shelved by - Abu Dhabi

 

Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill to design mile-high tower - Saudi Arabia

 

Australia takes 10 International Architecture Awards - Australia
 

Star Wars-inspired office block wins major award - Singapore
 

“Crazy shapes” are over - United Kingdom

 

Renzo to revamp Athens waterfront - Greece

 

Additional stories in Archives...

 

 

Casting Call

 

 

On Location: Chicago

 

NEW REALITY TV SERIES "SACRED SPACES"

FILMING PILOT EPISODE IN CHICAGO

 

 

Chicago, IL, December 27, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Designer and builder Cary Weldy has developed a successful career in creating some of the most amazing homes and commercial spaces in America. His design and construction experience culminated into multiple appearances on Home and Garden Television (HGTV), including hosting a 30-minute episode of My Big Amazing Renovation. With a new vision, Weldy has created an innovative reality TV series called Sacred SpacesTM under his production company Om Productions, LLC, partnering with multi-Emmy Award-winning producers David Moravec and Mike Torchia of Kinzie Street Studios LLC, a Chicago-based production company, and Reid Davis of Entertainment Concepts International to distribute and syndicate the new TV series.

 

Weldy explains, “We have brought together an award-winning team with a successful track record and a powerful reality TV show concept that we are betting to be a blockbuster success. Each episode will be exciting, with a different location and new set of challenges, where I perform an Energy MakeoverTM on the place and its inhabitants using the science-based principles of the masters of energy, transforming lives in the process. This new series will be entertaining and continually surprising, with practical energy tips that viewers can use in their homes and businesses. I’m proud to be filming in Chicago, and we are nearing the completion of the filming for our first episode in the series. The pilot features a restaurant in Chicago, and this episode will be both highly entertaining and thought-provoking.”

 

The TV series for Sacred Spaces is targeted for the fall launch in 2012, with 26 half-hour episodes planned for its first season.

For more information about the TV show, visit www.caryweldy.com.

 

*               *               *

 

TV SERIES A POOR REPRESENTATION OF 'WIFE'

AS WE KNOW IT IN CHICAGO

 

 

Chicago Tribune
Her verdict's architectural equivalent is absent from "The Good Wife." Chicago skyscrapers are visible through the windows of the law firm where the eponymous character works, via backdrops installed in Manhattan office buildings, Kushnick notes. ...

 

CRIME, SEX, POLITICS AND REGULAR FOLKS
 

New York Times
But even the other Chicago-based shows, all of which film in Los Angeles, spend a fair amount of time in town, gathering exterior shots that root the action in local streets and architecture, as the producers strive to make the city itself an integral ..

 

CHICAGO DESIGN WINNER GOING 'BIG AND BOLD' ON NEW SHOW
 

Chicago Tribune
Q: Out of the 12 competitors on "Design Star," three were from Chicago. What is it about Chicago that makes good designers? A: It's a combination of Chicago being a wonderful city … and (one that) showcases that we are still the mecca of architecture ...

 

SUPERMAN FILM SELECTS CBOT & WILLIS FOR DAILY PLANET

 

 

 

*               *               *

 

 

FOR KELSEY GRAMMER, THE COMIC ROLES WERE JUST A DETOUR
Los Angeles Times
Safinia and Grammer maintain that the city's insecure frontier culture produced the perfect historical and architectural setting for "Boss." "The people here … they had almost a chip on their shoulders, as though they want to feel better than New York ...

 

*               *               *

 

 

Excerpt from Sun-Times by MIKE THOMAS ]] If nothing else, the first episode of Lifetime’s cop-family drama “Against the Wall” (premiering tonight) could inspire a liver-pummeling drinking game. Every time the Chicago-set (but not Chicago-based) show depicts or mentions a famous person or institution or landmark connected to the city, gulp a shot (of beer, of vodka, of Zima — whatever’s your poison). By the end, which comes too slowly, you’ll probably be good and toasted.

 

For starters, there’s a flurry of L trains, the lake, the skyline, the river, the skyline. And guess what music accompanies this done-to-death montage? You are correct! It’s “Sweet Home, Chicago.” That tired tune should be banned from the soundtracks of Chicago-centric TV programs, movies, sports competitions and slide presentations forevermore.

 

Provincial lameness continues throughout with mentions of the Bears, the Stanley Cup, the Cubs, Millennium Park, the “Sears Tower,” the Bears — at this point, more than likely, you’re kneeling before the porcelain god and praying for ..

.

For complete story, follow link to the Chicago Sun-Times

 

Arch Quiz

Which athletic venue was recently stripped of its national historic landmark designation?

A) U.S. Cellular Field

B) United Center

C) Macy’s/ Field’s

D) Soldier Field

 Are you ready to test your knowledge about Chicago's architecture?

Take The Quiz Now!

 

Weather by DynaWeather.com

 

 Community Events

   

BERTRAND GOLDBERG: ARCHITECTURE OF INVENTION

 

NOW THROUGH FEBRUARY

 ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO

The Art Institute of Chicago will open an exhibit celebrating the work of Bertrand Goldberg, Marina City’s architect. The exhibit will feature “over 100 original architectural drawings and models as well as examples of [Goldberg’s] graphic and furniture designs.” It will also fill three galleries of the Art Institute’s new modern wing. 

 

More on our

Upcoming Events Page!

 

 

 Today's Video Pick

 

LEE BEY ON ARCHITECTURE

 

Fox Chicago News reports on the architect of the Mies-inspired McCormick Place and about the efforts to save a school designed by Ferris Bueller’s architect and Union Station.

 

Check it out in

Architecture in Motion

 

 

Quotable

 

"Architecture-wise, this is the most beautiful city in the world. And, I am lucky enough to have travelled to some great world cities like London and Sydney with the UFC, but I honestly think no city looks as good as Chicago does, especially in the summer."  

 

Quote by former Chicago native   UFC star Rashad Evans commenting on the city as he readies to participate in a highly anticipated card at the United Center, Jan 28, 2012

 

 Chicago Sun-Times

January 16, 2012

 

Good Reads

 

POSITIONING FOR ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN FIRMS

 

By Jack Reigle

 

John Wiley and Sons, Inc

April 2011

ISBN: 978-0-470-47225-5

Hardcover 224 pages:  $75.00

 

Addressing issues of firm identity, including an understanding of how to create the market positioning desired, Positioning for Architecture and Design Firms shows how a design firm—large or small, new or well established—can position itself to gain greater control over its destiny, and reach loftier levels of achievement.

          

More on this book and others on our

 

Good Reads page

 

 

Inside Today

 

 POLO AT THE ROOKERY 

 

Our current fashion focus against some of Chicago's great architectural backdrops takes us to the landmark 1999 Burnham & Root designed Rookery Building and its Wright-designed interior..  

 

Check it out in

Architecture + Fashion

 

 

Preservation Station

Chicago Tribune Photo

 

CHICAGO MOTOR CLUB BUILDING

Art Deco

1903

 

68 E. Wacker Place.

 Architect: Holabird and Root

 

The old Chicago Motor Club building, a 15-story Art Deco skyscraper that is facing a June 23 bankruptcy auction and an uncertain future, won temporary landmark protection Thursday from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.


Excerpt from the Chicago Tribune

 

More on our

Preservation page!

 

 

Term to Learn

  

 

BLUEPRINT

 

 A photographic print copy of building plans, mechanical drawings or maps that contrast blue outlines on a white background or white outlines on a blue background. Most are done on CAD software such as Autodesk which specializes in creating files designated for conversion into blueprints for use as construction documents.

 

  This and additional terms in

Archtionary

 

 

On The Board

 

ONE SOUTH HALSTED

 

1 S, Halsted

Residential: Apartment

Proposed Height: 50 Stories

Architect: FitzGerald Associate Architects

 

Check out this and other projects at

On The Board!

 

 

Today's Top Ten

 

  APA 10 GREATEST NEIGHBORHOODS FOR 2011

 

 

The American Planning Association has put out its choices as "great neighborhoods" for 2011. Check their site for what constitutes a "great" neighborhood.

 

Does your neighborhood deserve consideration for this list?

 

More on

Today's Top Ten page

 

 

 

Do you think you have what it takes to host your own series on HGTV? Would you love the challenge of competing in a design-based reality show?  Here's your chance to be on Design Star!

 

Design Expertise: We're looking for great designers. Are you pushing the design envelope? Are you going all “green”? Are you taking the old and making it new and fresh? Whatever your design angle, we want to hear from you!

 

Personality That Pops: We want to see someone who shines. Design ability and expertise are most important, but you could wind up hosting your own show…do you have the personality millions want to watch?

 

Passion for Your Work: We're searching for designers who will bring the world of design and decorating to life in their very own passionate and unique way. The world of design is ever-expanding, so the more invested you are, the better.

HGTV Design Star is an on-air competition to name the network's next star. Finalists will compete in design-based challenges with one to two designers being eliminated each week. The contestants will be narrowed until the winner is announced in the final episode of the series. Upon which, the winner will become the host of their own design show!

 

If you are interested in applying, please email us with the following information which will be passed on to HGTV:

 

Name:
Age:
Hometown:
Phone:
Photo:
Brief description of your design background 

 

Outstanding and personable architects in the Chicago area are encouraged to apply.

 

email responses to

info@chicagoarchitecturetoday.com

 

 

Firm Foundation

 

A SIT-DOWN

WITH

PERKINS + WILL

 

Ross and Kyle of Chicago Architecture today stopped by the offices of the world-renown architecture firm of Perkins + Will for a chat with partners Ralph Johnson and Ray Clark.

 

Read the full text at

Firm Foundation

 

 

 


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