The Chicago Architecture Blog

Remembering Marshall Field’s

Paul Kulon — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 06:39:19 +0000

Leslie Goddard’s book Remembering Marshall Field’s is a work of historical preservation that conserves the memories and meaning of a special department store within the collective consciousness of Chicago. At a recent lunchtime lecture at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Goddard spoke about the intimately intertwined relationship between Marshall Field’s and the city of Chicago, revealing [...]

Architecture Students Trying to Preserve History

Editor — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:24:43 +0000

A group of students from the Illinois Institute of Technology are putting their education to work in the real world. They’ve taken up a project to build exhibit space at Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House (14520 River Road, Plano), about 60 miles west of Chicago. Farnsworth House (if you haven’t heard of it, just pick [...]

NFP: 401 North Michigan

Editor — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:08:38 +0000

We have a new building in our NFP series. NFP stands for New Favorite Photo, and this is our new favorite photo of 401 North Michigan. If you like it too, click here to purchase a copy of this photo. It helps support this blog.

Lighting Up Burberry’s Black Box

Editor — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 12:07:25 +0000

We had some pretty big worries about what’s coming to the corner of North Michigan Avenue and East Ontario Street. Now it appears the Burberry black block rising at number 633 may not be as bad as many people feared. You’ll remember that this store is based on Burberry’s new standard designs for flagship stores. [...]

Briefly: Rail Rage, Madison’s Century

Editor — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:35:32 +0000

Amtrak has finally decided to invoke its legal rights and go after Canadian National for delaying its trains in and out of Chicago. According to WGN-TV, between Chicago Union Station and Joliet, freight trains delay passenger trains 99% of the time. By law, Amtrak trains are supposed to get preferential treatment on freight tracks. Once [...]

Review: Roosevelt University Tower

Paul Kulon — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:43:01 +0000

Introduction Roosevelt University is in the midst of a campaign to elevate its status as an institution of higher education. The centerpiece of this venture is the newly constructed Roosevelt University Tower (435 South Wabash Avenue) where the educational standard is physically manifested in the architecture and design. Chuck Middleton, Roosevelt University’s President set the [...]

Triptychs of the Past

Editor — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:23:35 +0000

Lately we’ve posted a few articles about Chicago’s lesser known architectural interiors. Today, here’s another one. Check out the lobby of 14 West Elm Street. The fireplace is fake, but hopefully the triptych mural of an idyllic Old World scene is real and original to the building. The woodwork and frames lead your eye up [...]

NFP: 300 North La Salle

Editor — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:00:46 +0000

We have a new building in our NFP series. NFP stands for New Favorite Photo, and this is our new favorite photo of 300 North La Salle. If you like it too, click here to purchase a copy of this photo. It helps support this blog.

Slice of Life: The Benefits of Looking Up

Paul Kulon — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:36:42 +0000

On gray winter mornings, most people downtown rarely take their eyes off the sidewalk as they trudge to the office. Yet just a simple glance up at the towering skyscrapers can infuse some beauty and inspiration into the day. I captured this photo walking across Federal Plaza. The overcast sky made these buildings look sober [...]

Briefly: Here Comes Pete, Block37, Rapid Buses

Editor — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:06:36 +0000

The Chicago Architecture Foundation has started a new web site to help students who are interested in architecture. According to the press release, “DiscoverDesign.org, an online tool that guides students through the architectural process on real-world design projects, with feedback and assistance from architects and engineers from across the country.” In other news, the [...]

Patrician Details

Editor — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:08:10 +0000

Dozens (hundreds?) of books have been written about the fantastic historic architecture in downtown Chicago. But there are hundreds of other buildings around Chicago with equally wonderful details. One of them is The Patrician (401 West Fullerton Parkway) in Lincoln Park. We were invited in recently, and the building has done a great job of [...]

Eight Views of 17th Church

Editor — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:02:25 +0000

One of the most prominent corners of Chicago is occupied not by a glittering skyscraper, but by a concrete church. The 17th Church of Christ, Scientist (55 East Wacker Drive) is an unusual looking building from the outside. But once you go inside, you can see that the form follows the function. Below is a [...]

Blue in the Loop

Editor — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:53:49 +0000

There are plenty of photos and postcards showing Chicago’s famous red skyscraper, the CNA Center (). But not everyone knows that there is also a blue skyscraper in the Loop. The building at 10 South LaSalle Street is widely considered to be among the ugliest buildings in Chicago. In part because it was one of [...]

Check-ing in on Burberry

Editor — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:22:59 +0000

Our Gold Coast Spy checked in today with a couple of pictures of the new Burberry Flagship Store going up at 633 North Michigan Avenue. After months of digging around in the basement, the steel of the building has finally risen above street level. Construction is expected to be finished in October. Previous coverage: A [...]

Old Old Chinatown

Editor — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:42:53 +0000

While cruising the Tumblr* feed known as Calumet 412, I stumbled across this picture of the King Yen Lo restaurant taken around 1902. It reminded me of something that a lot of Chicagoans I speak to don’t know — that while New Chinatown is fairly new, the so-called “old” Chinatown isn’t all that old. I [...]

Mythbusters [heart] Chicago

Editor — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:19:20 +0000

One of our readers was catching up on old episodes of Mythbusters recently when he spotted something interesting — the Chicago skyline. It turns out that in one episode, the sorta-science bunch needed a generic city background for one of its animations, and Chicago got the honor. You can see Willis Tower, an emasculated Hancock [...]

From Bauhaus to Bilbao

Lauren Windsor — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:37:18 +0000

Former Director of the avant-garde Bauhaus design school and a German émigré during World War II, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe took up residence in Chicago to work for the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Mies appreciated functional, minimalist structures with beauty derived from simple geometric shapes and admired the work of his architectural [...]

Lunar Lighting

Editor — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:48:30 +0000

The light of a full moon tries to compete with the bright lights of the Chicago skyline. Silly moon.

Briefly: Bridges, Blurbs, Beerville

Editor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:01:07 +0000

The Wrigley Building (400 North Michigan Avenue) has been named a Chicago Landmark. See Alderman Reilly’s announcement below. Not a new web site, but it’s new to us. Check out Chicago Loop Bridges for lots of interesting information and pictures of… Chicago Loop bridges. Here’s your Grant Park history lesson of the day, from the [...]

Chicago on the Really Tiny Screen

Editor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:56:51 +0000

We’ve seen Chicago blown up on the big screen in Transformers, Batman, and The Blues Brothers. We’ve seen Chicago serialized in Mike and Molly, Early Edition, and Good Times. But this is the first time I can remember Chicago being used as a race track in a video game. Electronic Arts has a game out [...]

Sibling Skyscrapers Split: Echelon Sold, Alta Alone

Editor — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:41:49 +0000

About ten months ago we mentioned that two neighboring downtown Chicago residential skyscrapers were for sale: Echelon at K Station (353 North Desplaines Street) and Alta at K Station (555 West Kinzie Street). Echelon must be the cuter kid of the two because today it was sold, alone, to Crescent Heights in Miami for [...]

Loop Target: July 29, 2012

Editor — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:58:11 +0000

For more than a year, people have been wandering past the Sullivan Center (formerly the Carson Pierie Scott flagship store at 33 South State Street) wondering when the Loop’s new CityTarget would open. We now have an answer: Sunday, July 29, 2012. For those with the retail bug, or who just hate seeing one of Chicago’s [...]

Ziggurat on the Gold Coast

Editor — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:34:46 +0000

I stumbled across 1155 North Dearborn Street the other day and was instantly transported back to third grade social studies class, and a word I’d thought I’d forgotten: Ziggurat.

New Navy Pier Plans Stir Some, Leave Others Cold

Paul Kulon — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:09:44 +0000

The Navy Pier Redesign Competition brought plenty of excitement to the Museum of Contemporary Art on Tuesday night, the first of two evenings of presentations by the design teams articulating new visions for the Chicago landmark. The public was able to inspect models of the proposals and glance at television screens flashing renderings. As the [...]

Slice of Life: Dirty Lincoln

Editor — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:56:27 +0000

An afternoon view across the Lincoln Park neighborhood through a dirty window. It’s art; I wouldn’t understand.