Metropolis Ι October 2016 As a building type, the high-rise embodies both technical sophistication and something of the architect’s own ego. Yet few architects make their name as creators of consistently good ones; Mies van der Rohe may have been the last. Jeanne Gang, another adoptive Chicagoan, promises to pick up where he left off. For… Continue reading Social Connector
Category: Articles
Baghdad Through the Lens of an Iraqi Architect
October 2016 Ι Architect Magazine In a photo of a dusty, rubble-strewn Baghdad street, a group of men hold a rectangular object overhead. It resembles a casket, the unfortunate result of a drone strike, perhaps, or some other byproduct of the second Gulf War. But take a closer look and it becomes clear the photo… Continue reading Baghdad Through the Lens of an Iraqi Architect
Build Big: Arch_Tec_Lab Is a Test Bed for Robotic Fabrication in Architecture
Oct. 11 Ι Redshift For more than 50 years, scientists, executives, and even movie producers have promised that robots are the future of everything. These prophecies are revealing themselves to be especially true in the AEC industry. Although when it comes to robotic fabrication in architecture, not everyone is as ahead of the curve as the researchers… Continue reading Build Big: Arch_Tec_Lab Is a Test Bed for Robotic Fabrication in Architecture
Cities that Function Like Forests are on the Horizon
Oct. 10, 2016 Ι OZY.com Look, we all want to save the planet, but don’t assume thin-as-paper solar panels blanketing every building will rescue us from fossil fuel oblivion. And don’t think apps that crowdsource microlendingwill lessen global inequality. In fact, don’t expect technology alone to solve any of our most pressing global problems, especially when it comes… Continue reading Cities that Function Like Forests are on the Horizon
When Public Housing Goes Private
Curbed Ι Sept. 28, 2016 Seven years ago, Chicago housing developer Peter Holsten invited a drama troupe to perform at a meeting for market-rate buyers and former public housing residents living in one of his mixed-income developments, which had been built to replace the infamous Cabrini-Green public housing project on the city’s Near North Side. Holsten’s… Continue reading When Public Housing Goes Private
How Bison will Take Over Suburban Wasteland
OZY Ι Sept. 29, 2016 Past the suburban fringe of Chicago, 60 miles west of Lake Michigan, the seemingly endless rhythm of curving cul-de-sac neighborhoods and strip malls gives way to vast expanses of green — cropland and wild prairie, divided by knots of rail yards where semitrailers wait to pick up cargo. Angular buildings are… Continue reading How Bison will Take Over Suburban Wasteland
Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces 2017 Curators and Theme
Architectural Record Ι Sept. 22, 2016 After the runaway success of last year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB), organizers announced plans for the 2017 edition. At a press briefing yesterday at the Chicago Cultural Center, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CAB officials named Los Angeles-based architects Sharon Johnston and Mark Lee of Johnston Marklee artistic directors and selected Todd Palmer, associate director… Continue reading Chicago Architecture Biennial Announces 2017 Curators and Theme
Sparkling New Dorm by Jeanne Gang Opens at the University of Chicago
Architectural Record Ι Sept. 13, 2016 To make way for the University of Chicago Campus North Residential Commons, the school demolished Harry Weese’s 1960 Pierce Tower, who’s stacked bays and neo-mansard crown showcased some of the University of Chicago’s least confident mid-century architecture on the famously Collegiate Gothic campus. Something of an inscrutable fortress, it thought little… Continue reading Sparkling New Dorm by Jeanne Gang Opens at the University of Chicago
Design-build for high schoolers
Sept. 2, 2016 Ι Doggerel On a hot, sunny August morning on Chicago’s West Side, Matt Snoap, an architect with the firm bKL, is putting more than a dozen high school and early college students in place for a groundbreaking photo op on one of the city’s many abandoned freight rail lines. But unlike a traditional groundbreaking… Continue reading Design-build for high schoolers
Live, Work, Play: WeLive’s Live-Work Spaces Reveal a “Third Place”
Line/Shape/Space Ι Aug. 31, 2016 According to urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg, people need three types of places to live fulfilled, connected lives: Their “first place” (home) for private respite; their “second place” (work) for economic engagement; and their “third place,” a more amorphous arena used for reaffirming social bonds and community identities. This third place can be a… Continue reading Live, Work, Play: WeLive’s Live-Work Spaces Reveal a “Third Place”