One of Chicago's enduring monikers is "The Second City," even though we're technically behind both New York and Los Angeles for size. However, according to a recent ranking of the world's best skylines by Diserio.com, Chicago is still "two-iffic" (coming in a slim second only to Hong Kong. New York and Los Angeles? #3 and #34 respectively. See the rankings and the methods used to calculate them here.
Image via diserio.com
Landmarks Illinois' Save Prentice coalition has created a new blog our called “Chicago Modern: More than Mies” that anyone interested in the preservation of our Modern cultural heritage should check out. The coalition also has a series of events coming up under the same name. Check out the blog here and the events you won't want to "Mies" here.
Image via Save Prentice coalition
Blair Kamin shares a special treat on his Cityscapes blog: Lecture notes from last Saturday's program on Mies van der Rohe's Tugendhat House by Chicago architect Dirk Lohan, in which two of Mies' residential masterpieces (Farnsworth and Tugenhat Houses) are compared and contrasted. Read it here.
Image via Blair Kamin/Cityscapes
Mark Hertzberg has posted a bevvy of new reviews over at his blog, Wright in Racine. They include reviews of Patrick Mahoney's new book about the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Davidson House; Randy Henning's 2011 book about Alfred Browning Parker's work; Roland Reisley's 2001 "Usonia" book, and a link to a demo of Tim Sakamoto's iPad app. Read them all here.
Image credit: Cindy Hertzberg
Throughout 2012, Gapers Block will be showcasing David Schalliol's photographic portrait series of 100 of the hundreds of buildings threatened with demolition in Chicago. Explore the background information for the project, which includes definitions and links to other building resources. See the series so far here.
Image via gapersblock.com
Blair Kamin, Architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, recently posted his Architecture and urban design forecast for 2012 (which includes the Zaha Hadid-designed Eli and Edythe Broad Museum that opens at Michigan State University on April 21, 2012). Read more here.
Image via Cityscapes
Last week I posted on Blair Kamin's "Best Architecture of 2011" so it is only fitting to follow-up with his list of the year's "Worst" in Chicago. Read it here.
Image via Cityscapes blog
Blair Kamin offers readers his list of the year's best architecture on his Cityscapes blog. Find out who and what made the list here.
Image via imamuseum.org
Blair Kamin's Cityscapes blog reports on the news that Steven Holl, a New York architect responsible for a Nelson Atkins Museum addition in Kansas City and a University of Iowa arts building, has been awarded the 2012 American Institute of Architects' Gold Medal. Read more about it here.
Image via dexigner.com
Architectural photographer and blogger, Lee Bey, shines the spotlight on the Schoenhofen Brewery near 18th and Canalport in Chicago. The 1902 Prairie School building was designed by Schmidt, Garden & Martin and has been beautifully restored/renovated and awaits new use. Follow the link to read and see more about this preservation victory.
Image via Lee Bey
MocoLoco features some fun food-inspired Mod wooden tops by designer Andreau Carulla. If your kids don't think fruits or vegetables are fun, maybe they'll change their minds after taking these for a spin. More here.
Image via MocoLoco
Blair Kamin's Cityscapes rails against the new Bank of America ads "uglifying" Chicago's Wabash Avenue Bridge—an aesthetically misplaced attempt by the cash-strapped city to raise extra revenue.
Maybe if we take the musical advice of an animated Paul Anka from the classic Simpsons Halloween episode Attack of the 50-foot Eyesores and "Just Don't Look" they will lose their power, disappear sooner, and never return. One can only hope. Read more here.
Images via http://simpsonswiki.net & Cityscapes blog
Here's a quick snippet on expressnightout.com about the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Pope-Leighey House. Read it here.
Image via expressnightout.com
Lee Bey has unearthed some very cool news reel footage of Chicago from the early 1930s showcasing the city's magnificent architecture. Read and see more here.
Image via wbez.org
Blair Kamin reports that the Arts Club of Chicago has extended the exhibition "Bertrand Goldberg: Reflections," through early February 2012. Read more here.
Image via Blair Kamin/Cityscapes
Curbed National spotlights Architizer's post on some young architecture buffs dressing up as their favorite NYC buildings for Halloween. Of course one of them has to be Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim! Check out more here.
Image via Curbed National/Architizer
Visiting Edward Lifson's Hello Beautiful! blog also provided a link to a wood and aluminum bird feeder/bath inspired by Mies van der Rohe’s 1929 Barcelona Pavilion that any Modern architecture lover's yard would not be complete without (though I would personally hold out for a Usonian version). Check out more here.
Google celebrates that 100th birthday of Disney conceptual artist, Mary Blair, whose colorful influence played a role in shaping some of Disney's most beloved animated movies and theme park attractions. Read more about this amazing Modernist here.
Image via Google
The Frank Lloyd Wright Newsblog offers a link to Tour de Force 360VR's virtual tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's century-old Taliesin. If you like the digital version, wait until you visit the real thing. Read more here and take the tour here.
Image via taliesinpreservation.org
Following up on the SC Johnson Administration Building window restoration photograph posted yesterday, Mark Hertzbeg's Wright in Racine blog has a new post on the topic with plenty more great photos and info. Check it out here.
Image copyright Mark Hertzberg
Blair Kamin reports on the 52 design teams of more than 250 architects from a dozen countries that have thrown their hat into the ring to re-design Navy Pier's public spaces. They include such luminaries as Zaha Hadid, Foster + Partners, BIG, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Morphosis, Safdie, OMA and SGA (Studio Gang Architects), SOM, Ross Barney, Booth, Lohan and several others. Read more about it here and here.
Image via Cityscapes
Curbed NY editor Kelsey Keith recently visited some significant architecture away from the "Big Apple" for Curbed National, including a stop at Columbus, IN to see the Saarinen/Girard-designed Miller house. Read more here.
Image via Curbed National
PrairieMod reader John D. sent a link to a blog post on transformationsandwhispers about a Prairie Style kit house in Central Florida. Check it out here.
Image via transformationsandwhispers.blogspot.com
Blair Kamin provides some comment on his blog, Cityscapes, about what visitors to Chicago can expect with respect to architecture. Read it here.
Image via Blair Kamin
The Building Design weblog is doing a Top 10 list of towering architectural wonders that never made it off the drawing board. Today's post features Frank Lloyd Wright's 1929 design for the St. Mark's-in-the-Bouwerie Towers. Read more about it here.
Image via bdonline.co.uk
Lee Bey reports that the Chicago landmarks commission will soon vote whether eight of the city's parks and the 26-mile boulevard system connecting them should be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Follow the link to learn more.
Image credit: Lee Bey/WBEZ
Nelson Brackin sends a link to an article from Oklahoma Modern about a Bruce Goff-designed building in Boise City, Oklahoma that you would probably not expect to be Goff. Why? It's actually pretty "normal" looking. Check out more here.
Image via Oklahoma Modern
This September, Chicago will be the site for not one, not two, but three exciting exhibits on Bertrand Goldberg--iconic modernist architect of the Marina City Towers and the endangered Prentice Women's Hospital (among other notable works). Read about all three exhibits at Blair Kamin's Cityscapes blog.
Image of Bertrand Goldberg early scheme of Prentice Women's Hospital, courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago/Cityscapes
Curbed LA is celebrating John Lautner's 100th birthday this year by offering a series of virtual home tours by the Organic Architect. Check out the houses toured so far (replete with tons of stunning photos) here.
Image via Curbed LA
Blair Kamin's Cityscapes blog reports on the upcoming September 8, 2011 opening of a new exhibit at the 10-year old Milwaukee Art Museum Santiago Calatrava-designed addition. The exhibit will be titled "Building a Masterpiece: Santiago Calatrava and the Milwaukee Art Museum" and will include Calatrava's models, drawings and watercolors. Read more about it here.
Image via Wikipedia
Blair Kamin weighs-in at his Cityscapes blog on the recently announced redevelopment plan for the Old Chicago Post Office building. Let's just say he's not writing any love letters to the idea. Read it here.
Image via Cityscapes
The good people at the real estate blog, Curbed Chicago, are like us: big fans of great MCM architecture. Recently, they posted a list of six Keck & Keck-designed homes currently on the market in the Chicago area. See them here.
Image via Curbed Chicago
Wright in Racine reports that the SC Johnson Company and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation have announced a 99-year loan agreement for 60 artifacts from the Foundation’s archives. The artifacts will be conserved as needed and placed on rotating display at SC Johnson's Fortaleza Hall starting spring 2012 in an ongoing exhibition showcasing Wright’s contributions to the American home. Read more about this historic preservation-minded partnership here and here.
Image via Wright in Racine/SC Johnson
Blair Kamin's Cityscapes blog reports that Writers' Theatre in Glencoe, IL announced earlier this week that it has hired Studio Gang Architects to design its proposed new home. If the new theater turns out as wonderful as Studio Gang's Bengt Sjostrom Starlight Theatre in Rockford, IL, then it'll be something to look forward to! Read more here and here.
Image via writerstheatre.org
Marty Hackl sent word that some newly discovered John S. Van Bergen drawings associated with unbuilt designs for the Chicago Junior School in Elgin, Illinois have been discovered. See both drawings and read more info about them here.
Image via martyhackl.net
Lee Bey's blog recently highlighted several gems from the photo files of the old American Terra Cotta Company (of Teco Pottery fame), including this image of a lost Parker Noble Barry bank. The photos have been digitized by The University of Minnesota archives and can be viewed online here.
Image via The University of Minnesota archives
The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida has started construction on a new visitor center. What's especially interesting about this news, is that the building is based on an unbuilt Usonian bungalow Wright design intended for FSC faculty housing. Follow the progress at this blog to see how the building takes shape.
Image via buildingtheusonianhouse.com
Sold! Blair Kamin reports from the scene of the auctioning-off of the Chicago Old Motor Club building. It was feared that this little-known Art Deco gem would be demolished to make way for something new. But, as the gavel came down on the winning bid of $9.7 million, it seems that there may be a ray of hope. Read more about it at the Cityscapes blog.
Image via Cityscapes/Antonio Perez
Edward Lifson's Hello Beautiful! blog provides a Top Ten list of reasons to save Bertram Goldberg's Old Prentice Women's Hospital. Read it here and then read more about the campaign to save this important Modern building here.
Image via Edward Lifson/Hello Beautiful!
Frank Lloyd Wright's Oak Park Studio was truly a furnace of creativity, where not only great buildings were created, but great talents were forged and honed as well. Marion Lucy Mahony was one of the most talented and misunderstood creatives to come out of Wright's studio. A recent essay (which is also an excerpt from an upcoming book on Mahony) at the Design Observer weblog examines this Prairie School luminary and sheds some more light on her world and the forces that shaped her. Read it here.
Image via designobserver.com
Marty Hackl sends a link to a great 9-part series of videos walking viewers through the process of restoring historic art glass windows from the John S. Van Bergen-designed Allan Miller House. Watch the videos here.
Image via martyhackl.net
Mark Hertzberg recently posted two new additions to his Wright in Racine weblog. The first post highlights the special celebration of Frank Lloyd Wright's birthday at Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin. Read it here.
The other post is about architect, Mike Herpy and his fund-raising bike ride from the Wright-designed Penfield House in Ohio to the Blair House in Wyoming. Read about it here.
Image copyright Mark Hertzberg
Frank Lloyd Wright's Millard House in Pasadena, CA (known also as "La Miniatura") was recently featured in a short post on the Los Angeles Times blog reminding people it's still on the market for $5 million dollars. Spend a minute reading more here.
Image via latimesblogs.latimes.com
Curbed LA reports that serial Mid-Century Modern House collector, Michael LaFetra, has snapped up the Gertler House in Los Angeles, designed by Ray Kappe. Read more about this latest purchase and LaFetra's previous acquisitions here.
Image via Curbed LA
Frank Lloyd Wright's Park Inn Hotel & City National Bank is scheduled to re-open after extensive restoration efforts this summer. As a part of the restoration and reopening, Copeland Furniture was asked to reproduce the unique chairs that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the Board of Directors room in the City National Bank. Copeland's blog gives an overview of that process and through a series of posts will detail the process step-by-step. Read it here.
Images copyright Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation
As time runs out on the 60-day reprieve for Bertram Goldberg's Prentice Women's Hospital, Blair Kamin wonders why The Commission on Chicago Landmarks has not stepped forward to try and stay the "execution" of this obviously important structure. Read more here.
Image via Blair Kamin's Cityscapes blog
Mark Hertzberg recently had the opportunity to photograph Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer, author and Director of the Archives of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, during his first visit to Wright's Wingspread in Racine, Wisconsin. Read and see more at Wright in Racine.
Image copyright Mark Hertzberg
Blair Kamin reveals some of the intriguing and unexpected secrets that he discovered about Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House after a recent spring visit with Prof. Wendy Koenig and their North Central College class. Read it here.
Image via Blair Kamin's Cityscapes blog
Blair Kamin recently wrote about the uncertain future of the old Motor Club building, a small 1928 Art Deco gem of a skyscraper designed by the Chicago firm of Holabird & Root. The building is being sold at a court-ordered auction and the fear is that it could be lost to a developer's wrecking ball. So why aren't preservationists overly worried? Find out more about its fate at Kamin's Cityscapes blog.
Image via Cityscapes
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