Chicago: The Latest Architecture and News

The University of Illinois at Chicago has announced the shortlist to design a new $95 million Center of the Arts for the College of Architecture, Design and the Arts. Chosen from 36 teams, the shortlist includes OMA with KOO Architects, Johnston Marklee with UrbanWorks, and Morphosis with STL Architects. The new center will include a 500-seat concert hall, a 270-seat reconfigurable theater, an exhibition hall, rehearsal spaces, and a combination cafe and jazz club. The 88,000-square-foot building will be primarily used by the UIC’s School of Theatre & Music as the new public face of UIC’s East Campus.

Studio Gang has been selected to lead the $8.5 billon O'Hare 21 International Airport expansion in Chicago. Chosen from a list of firms including BIG, Calatrava and SOM, the Studio Gang team is part of the Studio ORD partnership. They won the project for the Global Terminal and Concourse with three volumes converging in a central hub. Designed to celebrate Chicago’s history as a city shaped by lines of movement, the project represents O’Hare’s first major overhaul in 25 years.

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The third Chicago Architecture Biennial will occur from September 19, 2019, to January 5, 2020, and yesterday the first group of contributors to the 2019 edition and publication was announced. This year’s theme, “...and other such stories,” will bring together a multi-faceted and international exploration of architecture and the built environment. Newly commissioned projects for the Biennial will highlight issues including public housing, social justice, and the appropriation and preservation of the natural environment.

Architect Rafael Viñoly has revealed new images for NEMA, a skyscraper set to become the tallest residential rental tower in Chicago. Designed to evoke the structural system of the Willis Tower, the project is sited on the southwestern edge of Grant Park. The 76-story residential tower will create 800 rental units and is designed to be LEED Silver. The new skyscraper will include expansive views of the city's skyline as it frames Lake Michigan and Grant Park.

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SOM has revealed their design for the world’s first floating eco-park along the Chicago River. Called Wild Mile Chicago, the project is sited between Chicago and North avenues along the east side of Goose Island. A group of ecologists and activists called Urban Rivers is working with the city to realize the plan. The mile-long project is being created with government officials and private developers to include new wildlife, recreational and educational additions to the river’s North Branch.

Hulu has announced that they will be adapting a story of H.H. Holmes, America’s first documented serial killer, into a television series on the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Based on the nonfiction book The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, the series will explore murder and architecture around the so-called “Murder Castle." The show will feature the labyrinthine structure that Holmes built and stories around architect Daniel H. Burnham's infamous World Expo.

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After the dissolution of the Bauhaus due to Nazi political pressure in April 1933, the ideas, teachings, and philosophies of the school were flung across the world as former students and faculty dispersed in the face of impending war. Of the numerous creative talents associated with the Bauhaus, many went on to notable careers elsewhere. Some made a living as artists or practitioners, others either continued or began careers as teachers themselves - and many did both throughout the course of their lives.

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The Chicago Plan Commission has approved the $6 billion Lincoln Yards project to develop 55 acres of riverfront land in Chicago. Proposed by real estate investment and development firm Sterling Bay, the project has the potential to reshape the city's skyline along the Chicago River. Lincoln Yards would include office, residential and hotel towers, as well as restaurants, retail and entertainment spaces along Lincoln Park and Bucktown.

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Videos

Five design teams have been selected to present their ideas for the Chicago O'Hare Airport Global Terminal and Global Concourse expansion. The designs are on display at an exhibition opened by Mayor Rahm Emanuel at the Chicago Architecture Center. Teams include Fentress-EXP-Brook-Garza, Foster Epstein Moreno, Studio ORD, SOM and Santiago Calatrava. Known as O’Hare 21, the project represents O’Hare’s first major overhaul in 25 years.

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Emporis has announced the results of its annual Emporis Skyscraper Award, recognizing the best new supertall buildings completed in the previous year. This year, the top prize was given to the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea, designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Baum Architects. The tapered tower, South Korea’s tallest, also houses the world’s highest glass-bottomed observation deck, for architects who can handle the 1820-foot (555-meter) drop.

The Chicago Architectural Club (CAC) is pleased to announce the 2018/19 Chicago Prize Competition: Crossing the Line. A call for entries for the 2018/19 Chicago Prize is taking place as of November 30th, 2018 with the announcement of the winning entries on February 28th, 2019.