Architect Magazine Ι Aug. 31, 2017 The piñatas that hang over a wide, terraced stairwell are distinctly biomorphic but don’t resemble any earthly species of fauna. There are bulbous limbs and neon colors, but these David Cronenbergian monstrosities are rendered in papier-maché. Antonio Torres, the architecture professor whose studio created them, says the project was… Continue reading UIC’s Instagrammable Moment
Author: zachmortice
Chicago Works: Amanda Williams at the Museum of Contemporary Art
Architectural Record Ι July 21, 2017 Color(ed) Theory, a series of photographs of abandoned houses on Chicago’s South Side painted bright colors, was one of the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s most persistent viral images. Chicago Works: Amanda Williams—its sequel of sorts—constitutes a passing of the torch. The show, which opened this week at the Museum of Contemporary… Continue reading Chicago Works: Amanda Williams at the Museum of Contemporary Art
Architectural Upcycling Builds Earth’s Better Future Out of Trash
Redshift Ι Aug. 1, 2017 Contemporary designers are recycling waste materials into useable and well-crafted objects, and it’s easy to get the impression that this burgeoning realm of fabrication is destined only for the craft fair. A quick survey of Blaine Brownell’s new guide Transmaterial Next: A Catalog of Materials That Redefine Our Future turns up… Continue reading Architectural Upcycling Builds Earth’s Better Future Out of Trash
What Facebook Can Learn From Company Towns
CityLab Ι July 19, 2017 In the early 20th century, hundreds of company towns dotted America—quasi-public municipalities where the corporation you worked for built your house, taught your kids, maintained your roads and sewers, and even sold you groceries. Such towns once contained 3 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Economist. As the… Continue reading What Facebook Can Learn From Company Towns
Here Comes Chicago’s Architecture Bonanza
CityLab Ι June 29, 2017 In 2015, Chicago launched the largest contemporary architecture event in North America—the Chicago Architecture Biennial. Staged at multiple sites around the city (including the lakefront) and drawing more than half a million visitors over three months, it was a wide shotgun blast in terms of content, with techno-psychedelic body-horror sketches, demonstrations… Continue reading Here Comes Chicago’s Architecture Bonanza
A Lot You Got to Holler EP 15: The Night Chicago Died
EP 15: The Night Chicago Died A Lot You Got to Holler is dead! For our last episode, we look ahead to Chicago architecture and urbanism to come: The Obama Library! 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial! Neoliberalism! Ben lets us in on how Uber but for architecture will work in the utopian future. (It’s actually not… Continue reading A Lot You Got to Holler EP 15: The Night Chicago Died
A Lot You Got to Holler EP 14: When Does the Present Become the Past? Talking Preservation with Landmarks Illinois
EP 14: When Does the Present Become the Past? Talking Preservation with Landmarks Illinois It’s a pretty wild time to be a historic preservationist, what with burgeoning preservation movements centered on building styles that few folks are sure they really like. (We’re talking PoMo here.) As such, Lisa DiChiera takes us on a tour of all… Continue reading A Lot You Got to Holler EP 14: When Does the Present Become the Past? Talking Preservation with Landmarks Illinois
Morningstar
Contract Magazine Ι May 31, 2017 Morningstar’s new floor for its Chicago-based digital product developers places a premium on movement—the movement of its 190 team members as they get up from their desks for frequent standing meetings, the movement of mobile sit-stand desks that allow employees to take their workstations with them, and the movement of… Continue reading Morningstar
Perpetual Neglect: The Preservation Crisis of African-American Cemeteries
Places Journal Ι May 30, 2017 In late February, Raphael Morris pulled his car onto the gravel path just off St. Louis Avenue in northern St. Louis County, and saw something he’d hoped was a thing of the past: a large pile of garbage dumped in Greenwood Cemetery, near where he grew up and where several… Continue reading Perpetual Neglect: The Preservation Crisis of African-American Cemeteries
Augmented Reality in Construction Lets You See Through Walls
Redshift Ι May 5, 2017 Imagine you’re part of a crew constructing a new office building: Midway through the process, you’re on-site, inspecting the installation of HVAC systems. You put on a funny-looking construction helmet and step out of the service elevator. As you look up, there’s a drop ceiling being installed, but you want to… Continue reading Augmented Reality in Construction Lets You See Through Walls