Architecture and Design
Keep track of the city’s design and urban planning landscape.
The renovation would keep the atrium and have a more transparent facade and a new plaza. But we need to see more, architecture critic Lee Bey writes.
A vote in favor of designating both skyscrapers as landmarks is the right way to go. It tells the feds the city wants the two historic properties saved.
The federally owned towers date from the early 20th century and could still be torn down, but the decision of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks could increase pressure to preserve them.
The fire is under investigation, but the 131-year-old home’s survival could rest with the results of a structural report now being prepared by city building inspectors.
Firefighters were called to the home at 45th and South Michigan Avenue twice on Sunday to put down a fire. The blaze is being investigated as an arson. No one was hurt.
But a building that beckoned toward the future, housing the former Woods Motor Vehicle Co., shouldn’t be consigned to the past, architecture critic Lee Bey writes.
The U.S. General Services Administration and the federal judges pushing for demolition would do well to hear and abide by what could be a flood of testimony next week in favor of saving the buildings.
Caputo’s Fresh Markets in Norridge has a visually-exciting canopy — no, it’s not a roof collapse — that is a counterpoint to the drab, by-the-numbers store frontages most shoppers encounter.
Chicago’s fifth biennial gives residents and tourists a view of the city through the complimentary lens of art and design.
Coffey’s restoration of the Chicago Theatre and other venues contributed to the creation of Loop’s live theater district.
In a city that’s often quick to roll the bulldozer on vacant buildings, the Ramova’s resurrection this fall shows Chicago’s architecture is always worth saving.
The $6 million demolition isn’t a complete surprise, but it possibly means the end of the building’s current blue, salmon and white color scheme, one of its signature features.
The annual, self-guided history and architecture festival that spans the city gave residents a look into buildings and spaces often closed to the public.
The free festival allows the public to explore more than 170 culturally, historically and architecturally significant sites around the city.
The grant — announced this weekend — helps cover the planned $5 million restoration and rehabilitation of the 1907 North Lawndale garden.
Worried about being priced out of their community, a group is exploring how to buy a building together and live there: “I don’t want to leave,” one person says. “There are many people who love Little Village but had to leave.”
The weekend event, Oct. 13-15, will feature Uptown’s Riviera Theatre for the first time. The ornate concert venue was built in 1917 as a movie theater.
In a building full of musicians, dancers and artists, the manually operated elevators make their own music — a sound soon to be silenced.
The buyer hopes to turn the building — empty for years as former parishioners and the Archdiocese of Chicago fought over its fate — into an events space.
Heat can cause the ground to swell and building foundations to slowly sink, particularly in the high-temperature Loop — but that hot air can be captured and turned into energy, Northwestern researchers say.
Adjaye, a celebrated architect who had been attached to an Old Town redevelopment project, was once called a genius by Barack Obama.
In awarding David Chipperfield architecture’s top honor, a panel cites his commitment to society and the environment over chasing trends. Winners receive a $100,000 grant.
City parks officials assured residents that if Promontory Point becomes a landmark after a City Council vote this spring, its historic limestone revetments will be preserved.
“It’s beautifully intact,” said Tim Samuelson, Chicago Cultural Historian emeritus. Edgar Miller “worked on it over a long period of time, so it’s like a museum of his development.”
Antoni Gaudi’s magnificent Sagrada Familia a reminder of the blessings of faith free to express itself.
A permit has been issued to remove a beloved statue from St. Adalbert Catholic Church. Preservationists and former parishioners fear the building’s fate is sealed. “Once the statue comes out, the wrecking ball comes in,” said Ward Miller, president of Preservation Chicago.