Archinect - News

Photographer discovers Chicago's hidden modernist gems along Peterson Avenue

2018-09-18T15:20:00-04:00

The buildings aren’t the work of celebrated modernist architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe or Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. They bear no resemblance to the towering glass and steel monuments to postwar rationalism that you see downtown. They house doctors’ offices and dry cleaners, furniture stores and accounting firms. Some are vacant, their prim hedges and topiary gone to seed.

Architectural photographer and critic Lee Bey discovered a group of quirky modernist buildings on a section of Chicago's Peterson Ave. Overlooked and unkempt, these low-rise gems draw from Southern California's modernist vernacular prompting an unexpected, sunny and 60's nostalgia on the Northwest Side of the city. Check out these hidden structures documented here.

Hong Kong's public housing receives widespread photographic attention

2018-08-13T15:52:00-04:00

Across Hong Kong, where almost half the population lives in government-provided housing, public housing complexes have become wildly popular Instagram destinations. Locals and tourists have flocked to estates around the city, craning their necks to get that perfect social media shot and irritating residents in the process. The estates have drawn professional interest as well, featuring prominently in marketing campaigns and even a music video by the Korean boy band Seventeen.

Hong Kong's public housing, largely built in the 1960's and 70's, has attracted widespread public attention for its aesthetic appeal. These modernist style high-rises photograph beautifully with colorful displays of clean lined symmetry. While these buildings are visually engaging, they also play an important role providing affordable housing to millions in one of the most expensive cities to live. Hong Kong's immense public sector housing program creates space for nearly half of the city's residents.

Lost UK brutalist buildings honored through illustrations

2018-06-25T18:09:00-04:00

Despite being recognized as an important architectural movement, many iconic examples of modernist architecture have been knocked down in the UK, and many more are threatened by alteration or demolition. From The Tricorn Centre in Portsmouth to Gilbey's Gin complex in Harlow, these illustrations by GoCompare pay tribute to Britain's lost post-war brutalist buildings.

The Tricorn Centre, Portsmouth (1966 - 2004)

Pimlico Secondary School, London (1970 - 2010)

Trinity Square Car Park, Gateshead (1967 - 2010)

Derwent Tower, Dunston (1972 - 2012)

Greenside, Virginia Water, Surrey (1937 - 2003)

Milton Court, London (1959 - 2008)

Dunlop Rubber Factory, Brynmawr (1951 - 2001)

Gilbey's Gin HQ, Harlow (1963 - 1993)

Royal Mail Mechanised Letter Office, Hemel Hempstead (1985 - 2012)

AIA gold medal winning library is now boarded up and covered in graffiti

2018-03-05T14:54:00-05:00

Taking his inspiration from a Chestnut Street shoe store designed by architectural pioneers Oskar Stonorov and Louis Kahn, Martin produced a diaphanous glass jewel box, two stories tall and 35 feet wide. Large shop windows separated by the thinnest possible aluminum strips offered passersby views of the library’s bookshelves and clusters of comfortable reading chairs.

Sydney E. Martin's Mercantile Library was awarded the gold medal in 1954 by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Inspired by modern retail buildings, Martin designed the library with a transparent glass facade to display the books as merchandise. This innovative design is hailed as one of the 1950's most daring modernist buildings by historian Jeffrey L. Baumoel. So why is it boarded up now?

Google Maps street view of the former Mercantile Library on Chestnut St. in Philadelphia. Image: Google Maps.

The branch was shut down in 1989 by the Free Library due to asbestos contamination concerns. The interior has been gutted and the roof has reportedly caved in. The building is now owned by Brickstone Realty, known for several historic renovations. Hopefully the Mercantile Library will be given new life so visitors can once again experience this important modernist building.

A look at visionary architect Georgia Louise Harris Brown, the first female African-American architecture graduate

2018-02-07T20:50:00-05:00

Pioneering African-American architect Georgia Louise Harris Brown had a knack for seeking out the most fertile architecture scenes in the world during her long career. She practiced in Chicago during Mies van der Rohe’s prime and, from there, moved to Brazil, where a singular modernist language was being created for Brasilia, the most ambitious planned capital of the 20th century.

Georgia Louise Harris Brown has been featured as part of Redshift's Respect series, focusing on architect visionaries. Brown was the first African-American women to graduate with an architecture degree, and the second professionally licensed African-American female architect in the nation. Beverly Loraine Greene was the first, and a role model to Brown.

She studied under Mies at his Illinois Institute of Technology and was heavily influenced by his modernist style. Her first job in Chicago was with Kenneth Roderick O'Neal, an African-American architect and structural engineer who also studied with Mies.

Working with Frank J. Kornacker Associates by 1949, Brown worked on several key projects such as 860–880 Lake Shore Drive. This high-rise was influential in its minimalist grid of steel and glass and constructed with Brown's structural calculations.

Eventually moving to Brazil, Brown became professionally licensed in 1970 leading many firms for over the next twenty years. Read mor...

Vincent Scully, prominent architecture historian, dies at age 97

2017-12-01T14:54:00-05:00

Yale art historian for more than 60 years, Vincent Scully died on Thursday night in his Lynchburg, Virginia residence due to complications of Parkinson's disease. His architectural writings had an immense impact on the later half of the 20th century giving context to architecture in culture and society. Known for his theatrical lectures, Scully taught at Yale from 1947 to 1991 where his retirement only lasted a year. By popular demand he returned and taught until 2009, when health related issues caused him to cease lecturing.

Scully promoted strong modernist opinions while also championing contextual and social awareness. His association with the New Urbanism movement stressed his beliefs on the importance of the pedestrian, human-scale construction, and retaining a sense of community. The Vincent Scully Prize is awarded annually and is a testament to his influence over culture as a whole.

'American Architecture and Urbanism' an important work by Vincent Scully published in 1969.

H...

Can late modernism survive the near future?

2017-01-05T18:32:00-05:00

All across Los Angeles, buildings by the city's most important firms face preservation threats. Rejected and outmoded, can late modernism find love?

What is the value of history in a city known for its ephemerality? (Hint: um, not much, unless everyone agrees it is pretty.) In this piece for the L.A. Weekly, Mimi Zeiger thoroughly investigates the state of late modernist structures in the City of Angels, and how likely it is that many of these often repurposed (and unfortunately altered) buildings will survive changing public tastes. While the LAX theme building has been legally protected from demolition, other notable works--like William L. Pereira's original LACMA buildings--haven't met with the same preservationist zeal.

Modernism, in the news:

Another Grade II listed building loses its protected status in north east England

2016-03-30T11:39:00-04:00

A “strikingly elegant” office building in the north east of England is set to be demolished after losing its protected status just a year on from being listed. It will be the latest in a series of important modernist buildings in the area to be flattened in recent years.