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
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.
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
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.
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.
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. ...
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
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 ..
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.
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.
"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.
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..
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.
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.
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?
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!
PersonalityThat 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.
