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In a filing Tuesday, the city asked the judge in the case to lift an order barring Lucas from starting construction before the legal fight is resolved. The city argues the order "puts the entire project at risk" because the museum "may choose to leave Chicago and relocate to another city." A status hearing is set for Wednesday. — Chicago Tribune
Will Los Angeles be the ultimate destination for George Lucas' museum? It's a possibility if the Chicago legal battles drag on, which makes one wonder: what would be the easiest, hassle-free site? Downtown? The Westside?In the meantime, here's a recap of the history of the Lucas Museum... View full entry
...it's tempting to turn cartwheels over the Chicago City Council's vote to grant permanent landmark status to Marina City, the city within a city best known for its iconic corncob-shaped towers.
Marina City was a landmark building that lacked official landmark status and was therefore vulnerable — if not to demolition, then to insensitive additions that chipped away at the sculpted beauty of its curving concrete.
— Chicago Tribune
Since the process began last July, Chicago City Council unanimously voted 48-0 (with the absence of two aldermen) to designate Bertrand Goldberg's midcentury icon as a historic city landmark as of Wednesday, according to Loop North News."Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd, deserves credit for championing... View full entry
The Society of Architectural Historians has received a $123,000 grant from the Alphawood Foundation to hire Harboe Architects to develop a conservation management plan for Charnley-Persky House. Designed by Adler and Sullivan in 1891–1892 when Frank Lloyd Wright was an apprentice in their... View full entry
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city's major airlines have struck a deal to build the final runway envisioned in the city's multibillion-dollar modernization of O'Hare International Airport, but new gates that experts agree are key to significant reductions in long-standing flight delays are not part of the pact.
The agreement, which the mayor formally announced Saturday, calls for spending $1.3 billion to build a sixth east-west runway at the airfield’s north end [...]
— chicagotribune.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Beacons in the sky: photographer Carolyn Russo celebrates the architecture of airport towersThe Next-Generation Airport Is a Destination in Its Own RightThe iconography of an airport hotel View full entry
Met with "unequivocal success", as described by Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Architecture Biennial will be back in fall 2017. The Chicago Cultural Center had a bustling three months serving as the venue of the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial, "The State of the Art of... View full entry
Shanghai Tower has officially completed as the tallest building in China and the second-tallest building in the world. [...]
The completion of Shanghai Tower is especially notable for pushing Chicago’s 442-meter Willis Tower (originally Sears Tower), once the world’s tallest building, out of the Top 10 list for the first time since it completed in 1974. Willis Tower was among the Top 10 Tallest Buildings for 41 years
— ctbuh.org
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat goes on to say: "Given the rapid development of urban centers in these regions and the new heights that are being realized by contemporary tall buildings, CTBUH data projects that it will be less than five years before Willis Tower also falls out of... View full entry
Today, The Barack Obama Foundation issued a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) to seven architectural firms, one of which will ultimately be selected to design the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) on the South Side of Chicago. [...]
Although the RFP process is not a design competition, the RFP will require defined, visual responses from each candidate to present creative ideas in response to the Foundation’s project goals.
— barackobamafoundation.org
After sending out RFQs to a broad range of (undisclosed but widely speculated) architectural firms on August 26, the President and First Lady, together with advisers from the Obama Foundation, have found time to sit down and select seven finalists to receive a formal Request for Proposal. The... View full entry
Architectural photography is supposed to be different from the airbrushed images of nude women that are about to disappear from the centerfold of Playboy magazine. But what if an edited photograph of a building doesn't just crop out visual clutter like street lights but alters the contours of the building itself? What should we think about an architectural award that was bestowed on the basis of such a doctored image? — Blair Kamin | Chicago Tribune
In his column, Kamin scrutinizes the recent awarding of an honor award to El Centro, a building designed by Juan Moreno, by the Chicago branch of the AIA. Apparently, the architects provided the jurors with a photoshopped image of the building, notably erasing the clunky air circulation machines... View full entry
Look closely and you might find that the two operations are connected: Bureaucracy turns out the statistical slurry, and architecture reconstitutes it into built form. And since the actual process of making architecture occupies the lower half, as it were, of this digestive cycle, it is generally held to be an ancillary thing, tedious and occult. — Ian Volner | Art Forum
"Given the popularity of this perception, it’s understandable that the field of design is seized by a sneaking inferiority complex—which is why, from time to time, architects must meet up to remind the world, and one another, that what they do is Important Shit."After some linguistic judo... View full entry
Five people were injured in a fire that broke out Saturday afternoon in a bedroom on the 50th floor of the John Hancock Center, officials said. [...]
The cause of the fire has not been determined, officials said. [...]
Earlier Saturday, flames could be seen shooting out of a window on the 50th floor, catching the attention of Michigan Avenue shoppers, some of whom were getting ready for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. A smoky smell lingered near the ground several hours later.
— chicagotribune.com
Related in the Archinect news:Flying firefighters: the jetpack is quickly becoming a realityIn case of fire, use elevatorsTrial by fire: man waits out raging wildfires in concrete home View full entry
The long-rumored Apple store at the gateway to the North Michigan Avenue shopping district won't be a 2.0 version of the famous glass cube that forms an iconic entry into the retailer's Fifth Avenue flagship in Manhattan. It will be more like a high-tech version of Frank Lloyd Wright's quintessentially Midwestern Prairie Style homes, with river views to boot. — The Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune obtained a draft report from Chicago's Department of Planning and Development that details plans for a new Apple store alongside the river and adjacent to the Michigan Avenue bridge. Moving away from the iconic minimalism of its flagship Manhattan store, the Foster +... View full entry
[On Thursday, November 5], the Commission on Chicago Landmarks unanimously voted to recommend Chicago Landmark status to the Marina City complex. [...]
A resolution will be drafted and will head to the Chicago City Council in December for a final vote.
— chicago.curbed.com
This seems like a done deal. As quoted in Loop North News, Commission on Chicago Landmarks chairman, Rafael Leon: "everybody recognizes those buildings around the world, that the moment that they see it, they see Chicago. I’m so glad that we have gotten to the point of designating these... View full entry
The Chicago City Council voted on Wednesday to approve the zoning proposal for the 300,000-square-foot Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which will be located near Soldier Field. — NBC News
According to a press release issued by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art President Don Bacigalupi said that “[The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art] will also deliver nearly 200,000 square feet of new green space and accessible parkland along the lakefront for all... View full entry
Related Midwest, the Chicago division of New York-based Related Cos., will honor the prolific, albeit little-remembered, Chicago architect Edward H. Bennett and name its 843-foot apartment and condo tower at 451 E. Grand Ave. "One Bennett Park." [...]
"I think that the buyers and the people who rent in this building will be people that are interested in architecture. I think they're the types of people who will recognize the Bennett name and who will be interested in learning more."
— chicagotribune.com
What if a suburban downtown became a place where pedestrians ruled and cars were actively discouraged? As it turns out, what looks like normal urban gentrification actually marks the success of one of the most revolutionary suburbs in America. And its approach to development is fast becoming a model across the region—a model even embraced by [Evanston's] urban neighbor to the south, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. — politico.com
