Author: zachmortice

Line/Shape/Space Ι Aug. 4, 2015 At first glance, there isn’t a lot separating the sustainable soap gurus of Method from previous generations of bleeding-edge ambitious capitalists that came to the Chicago neighborhood of Pullman to fulfill their dreams. Like railcar manufacturer magnate George Pullman in 1880, Method’s founders Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry came to the… Continue reading Method Soap Factory Scrubs Manufacturing Clean

INT Journal Ι July 22, 2015 Before its release in 1965, French New Wave director Jean-Luc Goddard wanted to call Alphaville, his ultra-pulpy sci-fi noir Tarzan vs. IBM. It’s the story of a thuggish and volatile secret agent sent to destabilize a totalitarian regime run by a hyper-rational computer that’s sanded down any display of… Continue reading Alphaville is 50: After Modernism Lost it Meaning, it Still had its Looks

Architect Magazine  Ι June 15, 2015 Ι The New York firm of Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham injects humor (and removes color) from its products and projects. The well-trodden intersection of art and architecture is where Snarkitecturepractices, but the New York–based studio’s uncanny spaces exist in a place “adjacent to real life.” Firm founders Alex Mustonen, who studied architecture at… Continue reading Next Progressives: Snarkitecture

Line/Shape/Space Ι July 9, 2015  Commissioned in the depths of the Great Recession, Federal Center South, the Army Corp of Engineers’ regional headquarters in Seattle, was funded by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. But stimulus money came with big strings attached—namely strenuous requirements that it had to be built very, very quickly and very, very… Continue reading Sustainable Building Projects and BIM: 200,000 Sq. Ft. Government Office One of Best in Nation

Metropolis Ι June 2015 Ι Chicago’s Design with Company fashions an architectural garden party for the third annual Ragdale Ring Pavilion. Tucked away on the sleepy Gilded Age campus of the Ragdale Foundation in Chicago’s northern suburbs, the third annual Ragdale Ring Pavilion beams with youthful allure. The temporary timber structure strikes a Pac-Man–like profile, framing a stage for summer performances… Continue reading Postmodern Proscenium

Architectural Record Ι June 3, 2015  Chicago’s 606, the nation’s second elevated rails-to-trails park, will open June 6, and its designers and client have taken pains to ensure that it’s a unique expression of the Second City, not just to be compared to New York’s High Line. In form, function, and funding, the 606’s evolution has taken a… Continue reading Chicago’s 606 Elevated Park Set for Weekend Opening

Landscape Architecture Magazine Ι April 2015 For a relatively new landscape typology, elevated rail parks suffer from no shortage of claims about what they can do for cities. Namely, they can renovate decaying infrastructure, add green space to dense urban areas, improve public health by offering more opportunities for exercise, and honor, rather than demolish, historic industrial… Continue reading The Express Lane

Contract Design Magazine Ι June 24, 2015 INNOCAD co-founder Martin Lesjak, Contract magazine’s 2015 Designer of the Year, develops new products for every interior project, and his Volksbank South Tyrol bank headquarters is no different. The custom Berg & Tal furniture system—designed in collaboration with the firm bergundtal—defines the 86,000-square-foot space in the Northern Italy town of… Continue reading Volksbank

Contract Design Magazine Ι April 3, 2015 Nozomi, a sushi bar in the Spanish city of Valencia, combines eras of Japanese architecture both beloved and shunned. In the foreground is rich, warm Japanese woodwork, screens, lattices, and delicate ceiling beams harkening to Japan’s 17th century and further in the past. In the background, stark concrete floor and… Continue reading Nozomi Sushi Bar

AIA Architect Ι May 29, 2015 Ι Chicago Architecture Biennial co-artistic director Sarah Herda discusses Chicago’s place in the realm of architecture Go to the Venice Architecture Biennale. Stroll the kaleidoscopic diversity of pavilions in the Giardini. Explore the wood-beamed brawn of the Arsenale pavilions, universally consistent and excellent. Check out the incredible wealth of design innovation that stops… Continue reading What Chicago Architecture Can Teach the World