Photo courtesy SOM Bruce Graham, FAIA The most visible legacies of Bruce Graham, FAIA, are the Sears (now Willis) Tower and the John Hancock Center, the iconic skyscrapers that bracket Chicago’s skyline like enormous parentheses. But evidence of Graham’s influence can be found in smaller, much-admired Modernist landmarks, such as Chicago’s glistening Inland Steel Building; in the outcome of visionary urban plans, in the tradition of Daniel Burnham, that reshaped Chicago’s celebrated lakefront; and in the hard-driving character of the firm, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, on which he stamped on indelible imprint. Invariably described as tough and gruff, an architect
Chicago, Illinois Renzo Piano Building Workshop The Modern Wing: Where a Familiar Type Soars Renzo Piano’s Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago isn’t simply the best new building to hit Chicago in years. It represents the triumph of a type — the art museum with parallel masonry walls, generous expanses of glass, and an oversailing roof that serves as a louvered sunshade for galleries below. When Piano introduced this type at his Beyeler Foundation Museum near Basel, Switzerland, in 1997, it was overshadowed by the hoopla surrounding Frank Gehry’s eruption of titanium in Bilbao. Yet time has revealed
Photo courtesy Holabird & Root John Holabird Jr. John Holabird Jr., FAIA, died on February 16 in Chicago after battling health problems, including intestinal cancer. He was 88 years old. His grandfather was architect William Holabird, founder of the firm that became Holabird and Roche. Established in 1880, just as Chicago was about to undergo the building boom that revolutionized the construction of tall buildings, the firm designed such Chicago School skyscrapers as the Marquette Building. After World War I, it was reestablished as Holabird & Root and shaped Art Deco landmarks like the Chicago Board of Trade Building. Still
Among the cache of architectural treasures in the small-town design mecca of Columbus, Indiana, one has been accessible only to a privileged few: The Miller House, an elegantly understated one-story pavilion by Eero Saarinen with a powerfully geometric landscape by Dan Kiley. But this exemplar of mid-century Modernism is likely to open for public tours now that the Indianapolis Museum of Art has announced it will acquire the 6,838-square-foot house, a National Historic Landmark. Photos courtesy Indianapolis Museum of Art The Indianapolis Museum of Art has announced it will acquire the Miller House, a National Historic Landmark. Completed in 1957
The floods that ravaged the Midwest in June did not discriminate between corn and soybean fields, aging riverfront downtowns and renowned architectural landmarks. Iowa was especially hard hit, with buildings by Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, and Max Abramovitz taking on significant amounts of water. As the floodwaters receded, the overriding, still-unanswered question was whether the damage was structural or cosmetic. Photos courtesy of University Relations, The University of Iowa The University of Iowa has endured severe flood damage in recent weeks. The school's Arts Campus (top) includes buildings designed by Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, and
It’s no coincidence that the license plate for Chicago architect Walter A. Netsch, Jr. said "WN 21." "21" stood for "21st century," symbolizing where the progressive architecture of this strong-willed maverick always was headed. Netsch's geometrically complex buildings, including the much-admired Cadet Chapel at the U.S. Air Force Academy, broke the mold of glass-box orthodoxy in the mid-20th century and helped set the stage for today's expressionistic, digital design. Yet any assessment of his work must come to terms with the fact that his labyrinthine structures could be bewildering as well as brilliant.
Like the imposing towers lining the edges of New York’s Central Park, the street wall of historic skyscrapers fronting on Chicago’s Grant Park exist as built topography—a man-made cliff of stone and brick that includes such seminal structures as Adler & Sullivan’s robust Auditorium Building.
Project Specs Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies Chicago, Illinois Krueck and Sexton Architects << Return to article the People Architect Krueck + Sexton Architects 221 West Erie Street Chicago, IL 60610 T: 312-787-0056 F: 312-78-8415 Ron Krueck, FAIA ' Design Principal Mark Sexton, FAIA ' Project Principal Tom Jacobs, Tim Tracey ' Project Architects Project Team: Rico Cedro AIA Yugene Cha Jamie Cook Laura Fehlberg John deKraker Sara Lundgren AIA Greg Schmidt Don Semple Heejoo Shi Paul Tebben Architect of record Krueck + Sexton Associate architect(s) VOA Project Managers: US Equities Development Institutional Project Management Engineer(s): MEP/FP & Tel/Data -