Looking
west from Chicago's Bicentennial Park
TODAY'S FEATURED READ
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'Forever Open,
Clear and Free'
Chicago
Tribune
Shielding Grant Park from nice-sounding incursions is an
inviolable mission: After the court ruled in 1897 that, yes,
buildings are banned from this one park, Chicago had to
demolish a post office, an armory and a firehouse that had
been erected there.
A Brutalist
icon revisited: The architecture of old Kennedy-King College
WBEZ (blog)
But cheers to reader Dan O'Brien, an intern for my
architectural fellow traveler, WTTW's Geoffrey Baer. O'Brien
is pursuing a master's degree in Historic Preservation at
the School of the Art Institute, and found an April 17, 1961
Chicago Defender ...
Skyscrapers As
Spaceships
Reason Online
In the late 19th century, as ever-taller buildings began to
lift man closer to the heavens in Chicago, New York, and
other American cities, they inspired awe, envy, and, of
course, regulatory efforts to impede their development. As
Keith D. Revell, ...
Old Town
School's East Building strikes harmony with surroundings,
mission
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
Designed by Bill Ketcham of the Chicago architectural firm
VOA and located at 4545 N. Lincoln Ave., the $16.5 million,
three-story East Building carries the distinction of being
the school's first from-the-ground-up home. ...
Richard H.
Driehaus Rallies to Rebuild Parishes in Need
Michigan
Avenue Magazine
For the past two years, his architectural vision has taken a
unique turn, thanks to Father Jack Wall, a priest at Old St.
Patrick's church in the West Loop (where Driehaus is a
parishioner) and the president of Chicago-based nonprofit
Catholic ...
Dirk Lohan on
the Tugendhat House and the Farnsworth House: 'Two poems
that ...
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
There was a special speaker at last Saturday's program on
Mies van der Rohe's Tugendhat House--Chicago architect Dirk
Lohan, who knows the Tugendhat House and its Chicago-area
sibling, the Farnsworth House, as well as anyone.
Ads on Chicago
skyscrapers are a sad sign of the times; advertising clutter
...
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
It
illustrates a long-standing axiom among Chicago's
architecture guides — the worse a skyscraper's architecture,
the more likely it is to be bedecked with a topside sign. A
spokeswoman for Nuveen Investments, Kristyna Munoz, declined
to discuss the ...
New York's JFK ranked the worst airport in the world
Daily Mail
On 120 acres it was recognized by the American Institute of
Architects for best architectural design two
years ago. Featuring '210 white fiberglass tents that create
a chimney effect cooling the hot desert air,'
Frommers.com
told USA Today, ...
Skyscrapers aren't always about corporate pride before a
fall
The Guardian
Of course, there were soon attempts to consciously create
skyscrapers, to make them into coherent pieces of
architecture; in the 1880s, Chicago architect Louis
Sullivan aimed to make of them a "proud and soaring thing",
stripping off prefab baroque and ...
John Ronan an architectural star in Chicago
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin
profiles Chicago architect John Ronan.
What's the
Hemisphere's Tallest Residential Building? (Hint: It's Not
Here)
Chicagomag.com
(For the Gehry, Trump, and Hancock buildings, I've relied on
the “occupied”—as opposed to “architectural”—heights
provided by the council.) Retail space, a public school, and
other uses fill the lower floors of the Gehry building, just
as there's a ..
Chicagoan of
the Year in architecture: Doug Garofalo
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
This year's Chicagoan of the Year in
architecture was consistently ahead of the curve in a career
that ended much too soon. Doug Garofalo, who died at age ...
Towering
achievement; new Rush hospital could be Chicago's next great
building ...
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
Located at 1620 W. Harrison St. and funded by a combination
of private donations, city, state and federal funds and
hospital operations, the 14-story hospital was designed by
Chicago architect Ralph Johnson of the firm Perkins + Will.
...
Designing for
disaster
Christian
Science Monitor
"We've
gone from being America the beautiful to America the
besieged," says Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the
Chicago Tribune and author of "Terror and Wonder:
Architecture in a Tumultuous Age." The mission facing
architects today is fusing ..
A shock to the
system: Gage Park charter school is more than eye candy
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
Last week, it won an award from the Chicago Architecture
Foundation. Sheathed in shingles of light-grabbing stainless
steel, the same material that clads Frank Gehry's Pritzker
Pavilion in Millennium Park, the striking steel-framed
structure was ...
An architectural 'New Deal' for Roosevelt University
WBEZ (blog)
... labs, the business school, classroom space, etc.
The 17 floors will be a residence hall for 600-plus
students. Views from there will be worth writing home about
no doubt. The tower was designed by Chicago architecture
firm VOA Associates.
See all stories on this topic »
Adrian Smith:
City towers are now a 'fact of life'
Construction
Week Online
Smith
ran through the sustainable elements in his impressive back
catalogue, many of which were designed during his long stint
at Chicago architecture giant SOM. Smith's case studies
included the Pearl River Tower in China and the Masdar
Headquarters ...
Sunken
Treasures: Rediscovered Photographs of Turn-of-the-Century
Chicago
Chicagomag.com
Here
was a Chicago not of grand boulevards and architectural
treasures but of cranky swing bridges, crumbling streets,
flour mills, warped houseboats, and animal blood oozing into
the river. The raw honesty of those photos makes for a
singular ...
WTTW's
sharp-eyed guide
Chicago
Sun-Times
Over
the years, the longtime public television producer/host and
Chicago Architecture Foundation volunteer has cranked out
myriad feature-length programs on local history and
architecture. “Every show has the 'I never knew that'
factor,” said Baer, ...
Dear Mayor,
don't cheapen our public space
Chicago
Tribune
"The
revenue from it is really minimal because the focus was
primarily on regenerating interest from the business
community." I would have thought that the privilege of
despoiling Chicago's architectural heritage would be worth a
little more than that.
Architect
wants to take you higher
The National
Salah
Malkawi / Getty Images Adrian Smith is the maestro of
super-tall buildings. The architect based in Chicago worked
as a lead designer with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill on four
of the 11 tallest towers in the world, including Burj
Khalifa in Dubai, ...
'Local Legend'
and Architect Adrian Smith Puts Big Buildings in Context
Patch.com
He
joked that he almost got the TV star's signature kiss off
“You're fired” while designing Chicago's Trump Hotel and
Towers. Among other Chicago buildings that bear Smith's
stamp are the AT&T Corporate Center and NBC Towers, both of
which Smith ...
Ron Krueck's
Vision of a More Welcoming Michigan Avenue Facade in Chicago
Forbes
This
was when it brought in the architecture firm Krueck +
Sexton. Ron Krueck took this project to heart and worked to
find a way to make Spertus' building more welcoming, while
also appealing to the powers that controlled the historic
district. ...
Jeanne Gang,
'genius' architect
Globe and Mail
The
work of Jeanne Gang, the outstanding Chicago architect being
feted round the world, carries with it such impressive
curiosity and intelligence that a conversation with her
wanders far and wide, from the American foreclosure crisis
and the ...
10 steps to
begin correcting Chicago's open space shortage
Chicago
Tribune
By
Blair Kamin, Tribune architecture critic Ideas are bubbling
that can help Chicago fix the dismaying lack of open space
away from its park-rich lakefront. New York is closing
lightly trafficked local streets and turned them into
temporary playgrounds ...
Chicago's
'park deserts'
Chicago
Tribune
Thanks
to its lush, accessible lakefront, Chicago has the best
front yard of any major city in the nation. But its backyard
is marred by crowded stretches bereft of open space that
don't get the attention they need. As Chicago Tribune
architecture ..
Architectural
firm creates 'exciting vision' for Great Lakes
Vancouver Sun
And
front and centre will be Chicago-based Skidmore, Owings and
Merrill, the firm that built the John Hancock Center and
Sears Tower in Chicago and the Burj Khalifa — the tallest
building on the planet at 828 metres. The firm is now
focusing its ...
Modest
exterior belies art deco gems inside
Chicago
Tribune
The
bank is important for more than just its architecture, says
Dahriian Espinoza, an economic development specialist at
Enlace Chicago, a community enrichment organization. "Second
Federal was one of the first banks to give loans based on
ITIN numbers ...
Cramped
Chicago: Half of city's 2.7 million people live in park-poor
areas
Chicago
Tribune
By
Blair Kamin, Tribune architecture critic Chicago's
high-toned Latin motto, "Urbs in Horto" (City in a Garden),
makes it sound as though the expansive open spaces of the
city's lakefront extend to every corner of the city. ...
Newsmaker:
Jeanne Gang
Architectural
Record
With a
portfolio of widely praised projects, including Chicago's
Aqua Tower, to her credit, architect Jeanne Gang can now add
“genius” to the list of accolades she has received for her
work. Last week, the 47-year-old founder of Chicago-based
Studio ..
The Architect
Jeanne Gang on Winning a MacArthur Fellowship
New York Times
Chicago architects, especially those pushing sustainability,
had a great advocate in former Mayor Richard M. Daley. Have
you seen equal support from Rahm Emanuel's administration?
He's just getting started, but I speak for the architecture
community in ...
Fall season
preview for architecture: No skyscrapers, but plenty of
other ...
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
Meanwhile, new exhibitions and books will offer a look at
some of Chicago's major architects, past and present. The
Rush University Medical Center on Dec. 8 will dedicate a
striking new main hospital building (above) on Chicago's
Near West Side. ...
Jewels of
Olmsted's Unspoiled Midwest
New York Times
Ever
the reformer, he was also drawn to the notion that landscape
architecture could serve various social engineering
purposes, providing respite from teeming cities, say, or
forcing people of varied backgrounds to mix and mingle. ...
Could postal
service woes threaten architecture delivered by FDR's New
Deal?
WBEZ (blog)
In the
Chicago area, 14 sites are being contemplated for closure.
Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor
the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay the
postman from his or her rounds, sure. But the writer of the
motto ...
Trump's tower
a symbol of a post-attack revival
Chicago
Tribune
By
Blair Kamin, Tribune architecture critic People are always
asking me to name my favorite Chicago building and I demur,
saying it's like being asked to name a favorite child. But
here's a question I'll entertain: Which Chicago building
best reveals ...
Skyscrapers
remain powerful symbols, post 9/11
Los Angeles
Times: Critic's notebook:
Designed by the Chicago architect Adrian Smith, it rises a
staggering 2717 feet, or higher than the twin towers stacked
one atop the other. In large part the explanation for this
wave of towers is economic. The global economy was booming
by the middle ..
September 11th
and its lasting effect on Chicago architecture
WBEZ
September 11th had potential to change many of the familiar
elements in our landscape: Take the physical structures that
form Chicago. Architecture, a critical part of the city's
DNA, from the famous skyline all the way down to the massive
Deep Tunnel. ...
The Skyscraper
as a Pillar of Confidence
Wall Street
Journal
...
Adrian Smith and Gill Gordon of Chicago. Regarding safety in
tall or iconic buildings, the fires that destroyed much of
Wall Street in the 1830s had more visible impact on
architecture than 9/11 did. They made fire escapes mandatory
and ubiquitous, ...
Is Sports
Architecture in Decline?
Chicagomag.com
Reading that made me grateful to live in Chicago, where
architecture is regularly front-page news, even when it's
regarding architecture that isn't actually being built here.
It made me grateful for the lengthy, heated debate over
whether New Soldier ...
9/11 brought
changes to skyscrapers and high-rises
The Associated
Press
"I
don't know of any buildings that have gone through a
structural retrofit for the purpose of withstanding a major
attack like 9/11," said Adrian Smith, an architect who
designed the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago
and the Burj Khalifa ...
Chicago 2024?
Chicago
Tribune
By
Blair Kamin, Tribune architecture critic US Olympic
Committee spokesman Patrick Sandusky told the Tribune on
Monday that, as expected, no US cities will bid for the 2020
Summer Olympics. That means Chicago's next chance at hosting
the Games, ...
Wright's first
home shows architect's early innovations
Columbia Daily
Tribune
His
ideas appealed to some of his neighbors, who began to use
him as their architect, and this got him into trouble with
his boss in Chicago. Wright was fired for moonlighting. His
studio is a wonder with its beautiful rooms and use of wood
and light. ...
Who Deserves
Credit for the Rookery?
Chicagomag.com
An
1888 masterpiece of the Chicago school of architecture, the
building is a commercial structure, not a house. It's urban,
not suburban (Hyde Park was considered suburban in 1910,
when Robie House was built). And another detail: The Rookery
was ...
Office Space:
Architect Helmut Jahn of Murphy/Jahn
Chicago
Tribune
As it
happens, Jahn considers his location, where nature and the
city meet at the Chicago River, to be "the richest, most
interesting place in Chicago." The Murphy/Jahn architectural
office is at 35 E. Wacker Drive, on the third floor of the
Jewelers' ...
King of skyscrapers
Construction Week Online
The Chicago architect has amassed a lofty high-rise
portfolio from almost 40 years at Skidmore Owings & Merrill
(SOM) and five years at AS+GG, including the world's current
tallest building. In June, the architect received the 2011
Lifetime Achievement ...
Plan for old
post office complex: financial fantasy, architectural
nightmare
Chicago
Tribune (blog)
In
essence, Davies and his architect, Chicago's Laurence Booth,
are proposing a sprawling urban mall and entertainment
complex roughly 10 stories high, on top of which would rise
five skyscrapers, each varying in height from 40 to 120
stories. ...
Artist turns
parking lot roof into garden
Leader-Telegram
The
Lurie is a wild place where butterflies flit and robins drop
down to pluck for a worm, all amid the urban grid - the
steel-and-glass needles poking the clouds as Chicago's
architectural icons rise in the distance. Don't be fooled by
the unfettered ...
Architect Q&A:
The State of Super-Tall Towers
Wall Street
Journal (blog)
By
Maura Webber Sadovi Adrian Smith, 66, is the senior design
partner at Chicago-based Adrian Smith+Gordon Gill
Architecture. While at his previous firm Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill, Mr. Smith designed the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which
at 2717-feet high ...
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