Chicago 2010

By Ben Temperley

While I was in Chicago for Greenbuild 2010, I had a chance to explore downtown Chicago. My hotel was in downtown Chicago right off of Michigan Avenue. After snapping some shots of the skyline, I checked out the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. The building, designed by Chicago’s Krueck + Sexton Architects, opened in 2007. The façade is an aluminum and glass curtain wall arranged in a sharp angular fashion. If you stand outside in front of the entrance and look up you get a good look at the structure that allows for the uneven façade.

Next, I checked out Adler and Sullivan’s Auditorium Building which was completed in 1889. It is now home to Roosevelt University. The massive outer walls are made of load-bearing stone. When it was completed it was the tallest building in the city and the largest building in the United States. I liked how the stones at the base of the exterior walls were rough and uneven. This makes the building appear as if it is emerging organically from the ground.

I took some photos of my favorite museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, as I walked along Michigan Avenue. This is a beautiful Beaux Arts building housing a collection of fine art including a large Impressionist collection. In 2009, a new modern wing designed by Renzo Piano was opened. It houses 20th and 21st century art.

I really enjoyed walking through Millennium Park. Crown Fountain features two transparent glass brick towers. The towers light up with different colors and project peoples’ faces on one side. When the weather is warm there is a reflecting pool between the towers.

Next, I walked by the McCormick Tribune Plaza and Ice Rink and Park Grill to the Jay Pritzker Pavilion designed by Frank Gehry. This is a bandshell that has 4,000 fixed seats, plus lawn seating for 7,000. The bandshell is very freeform and covered in sheet metal-very characteristic of Gehry. Behind the bandshell you can get a look at the complex structure required to support the freeform façade. The colored lights shining on the metal gave a very beautiful appearance. Steel tubes criss-cross above the grass lawn in order to hold speakers above the lawn. I would imagine that the sound would be evenly distributed to concert goers.

As I walked behind the Pritzker Pavilion I saw Aqua, an 86-story skyscraper designed by a team led by Jeanne Gang. The façade has an undulating appearance similar to ripples of water.

Next, I walked across BP Pedestrian Bridge over Columbus Drive. It is the first bridge designed by Frank Gehry to be built. It is a winding bridge that reminds me of a snake. The deck is made of wood planks, but the sides are covered in Gehry’s typical sheet metal.

Later, I visited “Cloud Gate”, also known as “The Bean”. It is composed of 168 stainless steel plates welded seamlessly together and highly polished. It is 33 feet by 66 feet by 42 feet. It is very cool! You can see reflections of the Chicago skyline in the polished surface.

I wish I had more time to explore, but I only had one night. There is so much to see in Chicago!

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditorium_Building
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Institute_of_Chicago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Park
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_(skyscraper)