The Atlantic’s CityLab Ι March 13, 2019 The centenary exhibition “The Whole World a Bauhaus” is touring the globe, and is now making its only U.S. stop, through April 20, at the Elmhurst Art Museum in the western suburbs of Chicago. (The Elmhurst has earned its stripes, boasting a house on its campus designed by… Continue reading ‘The Whole World a Bauhaus’ Reveals a Movement’s Fault Lines
Tag: Chicago
The Bauhaus in the Age of Frictionless Design
The Atlantic’s CityLab Ι March 14, 2019 The Institute of Design at Chicago’s Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) may be the most direct offspring of the Bauhaus, which was the most influential design school in the world. Founded by former Bauhaus faculty member László Moholy-Nagy in 1937, and later absorbed into IIT (whose architecture school was… Continue reading The Bauhaus in the Age of Frictionless Design
Do Legacy Construction Companies Have the Inside Track on Modular Building?
Redshift Ι January 8, 2019 Fresh-faced, tech-oriented startups get most of the attention in the modular-building world, but despite their “it” factor, they’re still startups. Is there a market share in modular just waiting for companies with the approach and know-how that come with legacy experience? Chicago-based legacy construction company Skender has been researching modular construction… Continue reading Do Legacy Construction Companies Have the Inside Track on Modular Building?
The Design Media Needs to Examine Its Own Privilege
Common Edge Ι Nov. 20, 2018 Kate Wagner grew up in rural North Carolina. As a kid, her mom, who never went to college, worked in a grocery store deli and later in childcare. Her dad had a steady government job with a pension, and his time in the military meant he had the resources… Continue reading The Design Media Needs to Examine Its Own Privilege
After Rahm, What Comes Next for the Obama Library?
September 25, 2018 Ι The Atlantic’s CityLab Public safety, the city’s pension load, and public schools were the major issues haunting Rahm Emanuel’s assumed re-election bid earlier this month, all of which were upended by his surprise announcement that he wouldn’t throw his hat into the ring for a third term. Given the power that… Continue reading After Rahm, What Comes Next for the Obama Library?
Will the Culture of Good Taste Devour McDonald’s?
Metropolis Magazine Ι August 15, 2018 At a new corporate headquarters in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood, there’s a double-height lobby filled with green walls and massive art installations. Travel to its top floor roof deck and you’ll find a cozy fire pit next to a fitness center and bar (happy hours are on Thursday). Elsewhere, stair-seating… Continue reading Will the Culture of Good Taste Devour McDonald’s?
New Views into an Unheralded Element of Mies
Architectural Record Ι June 25, 2018 A new exhibit at the Elmhurst Art Museum in Illinois explores a little-studied corner of Mies van der Rohe’s career: his brief fascination with pre-fabrication. The show, curated by Columbia University’s Barry Bergdoll, is physically and thematically anchored by Mies’ McCormick House, which was built in 1952 as a prototype… Continue reading New Views into an Unheralded Element of Mies
The Brilliant Artist That Chicago, and the World, Nearly Forgot
The Atlantic’s CityLab Ι June 18, 2018 Edgar Miller was a virtuoso in any medium he chose: painting, sculpture, stained glass, architecture, interior design, printmaking, metalwork, cutlery, graphic design. He put those prodigious skills toward building a creative community on Chicago’s near-north side in the 1920s and beyond. Miller’s handful of architecture projects (a series of… Continue reading The Brilliant Artist That Chicago, and the World, Nearly Forgot
Chicago Exhibit Spotlights Charlotte Perriand’s Alpine Ski Resort
Metropolis Magazine Ι May 23, 2018 The most impressive item depicted at Matthew Rachman’s exhibit of Charlotte Perriand–designed furniture is conspicuously absent from his Chicago gallery—it was too big to fit. The object in question, a gleaming red and white prefab bathroom produced for the designer’s Les Arcs ski resort in the French Alps, was an… Continue reading Chicago Exhibit Spotlights Charlotte Perriand’s Alpine Ski Resort
Blue Light Special: The Chicago-Area High School in an Old Kmart
CityLab Ι May 8, 2017 Belvidere Road is an unremarkable stretch of suburbia in Waukegan, Ill., north of Chicago, lined with highway-sign staples: gas stations, car washes, fast-food joints, and a low-rent motel. It was only after a previous deal to move his private high school into a converted office building fell through that Preston Kendall… Continue reading Blue Light Special: The Chicago-Area High School in an Old Kmart