Chicago Architecture and Design, 3rd Edition

540 Pages·2018·87.99 MB·English

by  Jay Pridmore

EDITOR
Sarah Massey
DESIGN
HvADesign, New York
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Katie Gaffney
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017956794
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3231-7
eISBN: 978-1-68335421-5
Text copyright © 1993, 2005, 2018 Jay Pridmore
All Hedrich Blessing photographs © Hedrich Blessing Cover © 2018 Abrams
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Contents
FOREWORD
Helmut Jahn
PREFACE
George A. Larson
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER ONE
THE ROOTS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE
CHAPTER TWO
THE CHICAGO SCHOOL
CHAPTER THREE
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND THE PRAIRIE SCHOOL
CHAPTER FOUR
FROM ARTS AND CRAFTS TO ART DECO
CHAPTER FIVE
THE MEANING OF MIES AND THE RISE OF MODERNISM
CHAPTER SIX
MODERN AND POSTMODERN CHICAGO
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHICAGO’S SECOND MODERN PERIOD
CHAPTER EIGHT
IN HARMONY WITH NATURE AND THE PAST
GLOSSARY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX OF SEARCHABLE TERMS
PHOTOGRAPH CREDITS
HALO BUILDING
5800 WEST TOUHY AVENUE, NILES, ILL. 2001
MURPHY/JAHN
FOREWORD
When I arrived in Chicago in 1966 to study at I.I.T. [the Illinois Institute of
Technology], I came because I regarded Chicago as the architecture capital of
the world. I wasn’t the only one. There were people here from all over the world
—Germans, Italians, Swedes, Asians, and many other ambitious young people
studying and getting jobs in Chicago. One reason, of course, was Chicago’s
history. We were fascinated by the Chicago Fire, the Columbian fair, the early
skyscrapers, and much more. It is not to exaggerate to say that young architects
regarded a visit to Chicago as equal in importance to a pilgrimage to Rome or
Athens.
Of course, my coming to Chicago was for more than its history. In the 1960s
Chicago was the working center of postwar modernism. Most prominently this
meant Mies van der Rohe, who was directing the school of architecture at I.I.T.
and designing some of the greatest buildings of the century. When I arrived
Mies’s apartments on Lake Shore Drive had already gone up; the IBM building
was being designed. And Mies was not alone. Bertrand Goldberg had recently
completed Marina City. S.O.M. had built Inland Steel and was about to build
Sears and John Hancock.
What more could a young architect want? Nothing. Young architects were
intense, passionate, curious. I remember shortly after I arrived there was a rumor
that the plans for Mies’s Krupp building [which he designed for the
manufacturer’s headquarters in Essen, Germany, but was never built] were
floating around Chicago. I never saw them, but I remember people saying that
they would pay money to get a copy of those mysterious documents.
It’s been a while since I have seen that kind of enthusiasm about architecture in
most architectural offices, much less the general public. There’s also been a lot
of poor architecture lately—in Chicago and everywhere else. Construction is
shoddy. Form is tired and forgettable. Clients have seemed indifferent to this
state of affairs, and another thing is sure: Young architects are not flocking to
Chicago to launch their careers.
But things always change, and they are changing for the better. For the first time
in a long time I have seen a much more open attitude about architecture, and the
results are beginning to show. Perhaps the new buildings at I.I.T. are an example
of new things to come. The student center and the dormitories are unlike
anything else in Chicago—so much so that Chicago purists objected strongly
when these buildings were introduced. They were nontraditional, different, and
even seemed to go against the grain. Generally, they have been well received.
But to me good new architecture is not just a matter of doing things differently.
You can always do something different from what someone did in the past.
Good new architecture is about doing things better. It is absolutely critical to
bear in mind that the best new buildings of our period may look different, but
they are also being built with much higher standards of construction.
To me, this is one of the real traditions of Chicago: Doing things better.
The future of architecture will bring the architects and the engineers much closer
together. This collaboration will do many things. Number one, it will create
buildings that are economical and efficient. The collaboration will lead to new
form too, as architects discover new ways to use new materials, new systems,
and new methods of construction.
This idea is not new. In old Chicago, John Wellborn Root was as talented an
engineer as he was an architect. Sullivan could hardly have built such artistic
buildings without Adler engineering them in revolutionary ways. More recently
the collaboration between the architect Bruce Graham of S.O.M. and his
engineer collaborator Fazlur Khan gave rise to John Hancock and Sears Tower.
There are many other elements of Chicago’s architectural heritage. We’re a city
of sleek towers and big shoulders. We’re a city that loves elegance but needs to
be gritty and real. But for me at this time, the real power of Chicago’s past is in
the interaction between engineer and architect, the mutual respect between the
nuts and bolts of building and the artistic expression of architecture.
Will Chicago once again become the worldwide center of architecture? Perhaps
not. Our profession is global now. Architects travel around the world. Their
ideas can be applied in Berlin and Bangkok as appropriately as in Chicago. But
architecture still has to respond to local conditions, local ideas, and local history.
That is why I am very curious about the next decade or so of Chicago
architecture. New technologies and new architects will find new ways to
architecture. New technologies and new architects will find new ways to
interpret our tradition in great new buildings. Some may be soaring skyscrapers,
others more modest structures like a single-room occupancy hotel that we are
designing for the North Side. I’m convinced that there are bright spots on the
architectural horizon, and that Chicago may once again reassert itself as one of
the most energetic architectural cities of the world.
–HELMUT JAHN, MURPHY/JAHN ARCHITECTS
HALO BUILDING
5800 WEST TOUHY AVENUE, NILES, ILL. 2001