The Devoid Tower, designed by Daniel Caven at the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and featured in eVolo magazine, explores the passive systems that can be incorporated into high-rise design. Composed of a central volume that is pierced by a void, the tower’s design is influenced by a set of design rules, and tested using parametric and environmental analysis. More images and project description after the break.
From March 20 – May 11, the “American City: St. Louis Architecture: Three Centuries of Classic Design” exhibition will be up at the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower) in downtown Chicago. The show consists of 83 large prints of over 40 historic buildings in St. Louis, including acclaimed landmarks such as Louis Sullivan’s Wainwright Building, James Eads’ Eads Bridge, Eero Saarinen’s Gateway Arch and Tadao Ando’s Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts Building. The timeline stretches from 1839 to 2010. The show is being staged in the Willis’ ground floor atrium and lobby and is free to the public. More information on the exhibition after the break.
Starting tomorrow, the five design teams selected to redesign the outdoor spaces of Chicago’s Navy Pier will begin to reveal their schemes to the public. Lead by AECOM, Aedas Architects, James Corner Field Operations, !melk and the Xavier Vendrell Studio, each team will be given thirty minutes to present their ideas, followed by a ten minute question and answer session. The presentations will take place on January 31st and February 1st at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Continue reading for the presentation schedules and more information on the competition.
Architect: John Ronan Architects Location: 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, USA Project Team: John Ronan AIA, Lead Designer; Marcin Szef, Tom Lee Graphic Designer: Studio Blue General contractor: Art Institute of Chicago Project Area: 6600 sqf Project Year: 2011 Photographs: Steve Hall/Hedrich Blessing
Recently completed by Spirit of Space, the film above displays the cadence of morning rush hour reflecting the rhythm of the Chicago River, but how often do we allow the river to reflect a wandering glance from us? This “glance” aims to bring to light the potential of Chicago’s socially under utilized, aqueous artery.
The Art Institute of Chicago is hosting a retrospective for Bertrand Goldberg, famed architect of Marina City (1959–1967), two cylindrical corncob-shaped commercial/residential towers. The exhibition contains a range of Goldberg’s work; it begins with his work at the Bauhaus and the 1933 Century of Progress Exposition and follows his career into his visionary plans of a postwar America. The exhibition will feature architectural drawings, models, photographs, along with graphic and furniture design.
Follow us after the break for images of Goldberg’s work.
USA Today has put together a list of city neighborhoods which are satiated with activity, areas which offer a “great slice of urban life.” These districts trend from the urban vicinity to its very core, each in itself exemplifying the revitalization of the American city. The list includes regions which have been influenced by deliberate urban revitalization projects, such as High Line Park in Chelsea; while other neighborhoods have experienced an influx of a younger populace which has contributed to its growth, such as Lawrenceville in Pittsburgh.
See the 10 Up and Coming Urban Neighborhoods after the break.
The Ceremony and Dinner will be preceded by a free afternoon Symposium which will feature presentations from all the 2011 winners. Join us to hear from senior representatives of these ground breaking projects, as well as from the two CTBUH Lifetime Achievement award winners who have influenced the tall building profession for decades. More information on the event after the break.
The architecture community recently lost Chicago architect Douglas Garofalo, FAIA. Founder of Garofalo Architects, he was a University of Notre Dame graduate and a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, serving as director (2001-2003) and co-founded the alternative design school Archeworks. Garofalo also was known for pioneering the use of computer technology in building design within the United States. His award-winning Korean Presbyterian Church in New York, a collaborative project with Greg Lynn and Michael McInturf, received international attention with its digital media approach and alternative solution to adaptive reuse.
This concrete, clover leaf-shaped structure, which was built in 1975, will likely suffer a fate common to many vacant and disused buildings. After approximately four years of vacancy, this Bertrand Goldberg-designed building will likely be demolished when ownership will revert to Northwestern University this year. Although Goldberg’s organic architectural designs – such as this one – were widely influential, none of his major Chicago works are protected by local landmark designation. Prentice Women’s Hospital was considered groundbreaking for its cutting-edge architecture, advanced engineering, and its progressive design approach to organizing medical departments and services. It received international press coverage and an award from Engineering News Record for its innovative tower and open floor-plate layout that eliminated the need for structural support columns. “You will not find the structural solution to Prentice, which is an exterior shell cantilevered off a core, anywhere else in the world” notes Geoffrey Goldberg, an architect and Bertrand Goldberg’s son. “Prentice was the only one in which this was achieved.”
