My Jubilant American Summer, Part Two

Prairie and Pattern

in the middle of Chicago

I have always been crazy for world-class architecture. For years, I have daydreamed about taking my children on the super-popular CAF (Chicago Architecture Foundation) river cruise celebrating Chicago’s architecture.  I have always daydreamed about taking them to see all of the Frank Lloyd Wright sites in Oak Park,Illinois. I have also never been to see the Bahai Temple in Wilmette, Illinois, for example. I would love for my children to see the Bahai Temple there to celebrate, not only the architecture, but the diversity of America’s religious expression. I didn’t get that ‘Chicago architecture daydream’ done in their formative years. This was my chance!

Approaching the

James R.Thompson Center,

formerly known as

the State of Illinois Building,

designed by Murphy/Helmut Jahn.

Notice the Jean Dubuffet sculpture

in front of the building.

Light abounds at this intersection

since the building leans back

from the intersection.

Inside, the open, awe-inspiring

atrium is designed to communicate

"an open government in action."

A 'dome,' a fixture of so many

sacred and governmental buildings,

was instead, modeled

into the floor

in tile.

The sculpture

"Monument with Standing Beast"

by French sculptor Jean Dubuffet

invites a feeling of play

from all passing pedestrians

regardless of age.

The State of Illinois

set aside 0.05% of building cost

for public art.

I love public art programs

and was a inaugural board member

of my city's public art board

in my hometown.

Living in Chicago for the summer gave me an opportunity to plan an architecture outing. It allowed me the chance to join the Chicago Architecture Foundation and to experience the amazing community of architecture enthusiasts that has developed in the city.

 The untitled Picasso sculpture

was the first significant public art

in downtown Chicago.

Kids love to run up and down it.

The story goes that it was inspired

by a woman with a great pony-tail that

Picasso was dating

at the time.

When I first walked into the Chicago Architecture Foundation retail store and meeting point, I started crying. I am sure they thought I was nuts. I was just so moved! This is how life is meant to be!

Imagine, there are thousands of people all over the world who join the Chicago Architecture Foundation to celebrate, enjoy, mull over,discuss, and preserve Chicago’s architectural heritage. Chicago is the home of the world’s first skyscraper, has a spectacular master plan designed by Daniel Burnham due to the Chicago Fire in 1878 that leveled much of the city, and 18 miles of gorgeous beachfront that is open to the public thanks to great urban planning and Montgomery Ward's leadership in the 1920s.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation’s mission is “to inspire people to discover why design matters.”  In 1966, preservation enthusiasts got together to save a private Chicago residence, the Glessner House, from destruction. Their success led people from across disciplines to form an organization devoted to sharing this enthusiasm for great design. Since then, it has grown into a group with a $17 million budget and 9,700 members. 450 volunteer tour leaders led 6,395 tour departures last year celebrating architecture with 319,661 people.  A whopping 1,367 volunteers put on their annual October Open House showcasing architectural treasures across the city over the course of one weekend.

It’s such a great value too, to become a CAF member. Members can go on 62 different walking tours for free. Yes, I said, 62 FREE walking tours! Members are able to buy tickets to the architectural river cruise at 2 for 1, or 4 for 2 pricing, plus members get discounts in the retail shop, on boat, bicycle, bus, and Segway tours, free attendance at lunch and evening programs, and free passes to all exhibitions. Plus, if one were living in the city long-term, what a joy it would be to develop community with like-minded, design-enthused people. Priceless!

The organization is so successful, it has started a sister organization just to help people who ask, “how could I get one of these architectural foundations started in my city?” I thought many times during the summer, how useful an Istanbul Architectural Foundation would be, now, at a time when the whole city seems up for grabs for construction with nary a thought to the archaeological value of some sites.

Having an organized, committed, educated Istanbul architectural foundation with a budget , a network of communication, and institutional heft could make a difference. Far easier for design enthusiasts to work through institutional power, rather than through the street protests that have resulted in tear gas, arrests, and deaths for individuals who care about the future of their city.

The world's tallest skyscraper

designed by a woman,

the 82-story mixed use

Aqua Tower

designed by Chicago's

Jeanne Gang

of Studio Gang Architects

Notice the amenities for residents

built into the base of the building:

a jogging track, swimming pool,

parks and underground parking.

 A park and school

 are part of the complex.

Since Millennium Park was built,

one block away,

the residential units

available in this area

have exponentially increased.

I'm encouraged that

the world's tallest skyscraper

has been built by a woman

from Midwestern America,

 in Midwestern America.

I also especially appreciated the CAF’s focus on women architects. The Foundation works to publicize the gap between the number of women who graduate with an architectural degree and the number who are actually working as architects. There’s a 32% gap. There were exhibitions about women architects, and bus tours around the city showcasing female-designed buildings (always sold out).  The CAF, and a sister organization, the Chicago Women in Architecture (CAW) serve as cheerleaders for female design accomplishment.

One local woman from Northern Illinois was the lead architect on the world’s tallest female-designed skyscraper to date: Jeanne Gang. Another Chicago institution, the MacArthur Foundation, has also nurtured her talent with one of their famous “Genius Grants.” The grant is a one-time gift of $625,000 with no strings attached to use how the recipient wants. Gosh, I loved learning about her and seeing her building. Is it any wonder Chicago is the place where female-led design has pushed the boundaries?

Enjoying the

Chicago Architecture Foundation

River Cruise

with my family

I had one very special day with my children celebrating magnificent design. Daughter #1 and her husband drove down from Wisconsin for the day. The two of them, my youngest daughter and I took an CAF architectural river cruise and saw the city from the point-of-view of the river.

Kayakers check out

the Chicago River's

future riverwalk

We were awed by the design challenges of particular buildings, the story about how the flow of the Chicago River was reversed, and the industrial histories of Sears and Montgomery Wards and their impact on the city.

 The engineering challenges met

on the construction

of the Boeing Building were

particularly impressive

Chicago leads the world in most number of moveable river bridges. So far, the river's infrastructure benefits boats and cars. It’s exciting to see that Chicago’s next big civic design push is inspired by San Antonio, creating a future pedestrian river walk for citizens to enjoy.

Bertrand Goldberg's "River City,"

affectionately known

as the "eyebrow" building

for the fun shape of the windows.

Notice the boat parking underneath.

Our tour guide noted with a bemused laugh that the Chicago River has been upgraded from ‘toxic’ to merely ‘polluted.’ She told stories about how Chicagoans of old used to dispose of their dead horses by dumping them into the river. I can’t wait to see the day when the river becomes romantic rather than wretching (well, at least that story was, the river itself looks fine). Go, Chicago, go!

What a view!

The view from the 16th floor terrace

of Trump International Tower

After our architectural river cruise, my family took me out for a seafood lunch to celebrate my birthday, and then we went to the newly designed Trump International Tower for a drink. I’m no fan of Trump’s politics, but I was completely impressed with what he had built in Chicago, beginning with securing the lot upon which his skyscraper was built. The lot alone speaks to his power. How did he secure this exquisite piece of land? It has a dead-ahead view of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan and a view of the Wrigley Building to the left.

The Trump International Tower

from the Chicago River

On 9/11/2001, Donald Trump was in a meeting with his architect Adrian Smith, who was with the globally-famous architectural design firm Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, at the time of the design. Trump and Smith were planning to build a skyscraper that would be Chicago’s tallest building. For obvious reasons, Trump decided against this.  If the building Trump built is any less magnificent than what he had planned, I could not see how. It is sleek, sexy, and timeless, particularly before Donald Trump decided to unnecessarily add his name to the building. We all knew it was yours, Donald.  It was unnecessary to 'trump'-it this. 

 Selfies with my youngest

What a special moment

it was to enjoy this view

with my family

 What an uplifting view! All around us were wedding parties, gussied up and looking pretty, celebrating their special day.  As one of my friends said about the pricy drinks, “you just have to drink your drink very slowly.” Yes, the drinks were expensive, but no more than Istanbul, with its sky-high alcohol taxes.

Art Deco

Elevator Doors
at the

Chicago Board of Trade

I tried to do at least three of the free CAF walking tours each week while I was in Chicago. Because, these tours were so incredible, I didn’t have time to see many of the amazing ‘secondary’ attractions that Chicago boasts of that I would also like to see: Jane Addams’ Hull House museum, the Oriental Art Institute (which I would really now appreciate having lived in Turkey), the Glessner House, whose imminent destruction in the 1960s lead to the creation of the CAF, the Pritzker Military Library (another architectural gem), and on and on the list goes. Chicago in INCREDIBLE.

My favorite building discovery
of the summer

was the Marquette Building,

built in 1895,

and designed by

Holabird and Roche.

It has steel-frame architecture
and is considered

one of the best examples of

the "Chicago School of Architecture."

The building celebrates the voyage of Frenchman

and priest Jacques Marquette,

the first European settler in Chicago.

 He explored the Chicago River in 1674.

Notice the bas-relief sculpture

over the entrance that celebrates

Marquette's exploration of the Great Lakes,

including, in the far right panel, his burial.

The Marquette Building is currently home

to the John D. and Catherine

MacArthur Foundation,

the people who make the

Genius Grants every year.

That foundation did an extensive renovation

of this imaginative, wonderfully-American gem.

Marquette's expedition

is recreated in

Tiffany glass murals

surrounding the atrium.

I found this absolutely thrilling!

Yes, people, that is a tomahawk

on a brass door.

Elsewhere there were peace pipes

in the brass panel fittings.

You aren't going to see a building like this

anywhere in Europe.

Expedition members were highlighted

on all sides of the atrium.

How cool is that? 

It made me wonder why more history

isn't highlighted more in architectural buildings.

It helped me recognize

architecture's ability to teach,

awakening interest in history,

not just design.

A teacher could have a field day

with the institutionalized racism

captured in this description of Marquette, 

as the "discoverer" of a river

Native Americans

were using on a daily basis.

It's so fantastic this

dated thinking is preserved.
We see not only the good,
but the limits of generations
who proceeded us.

I also did not get every site seen on my family field-trip daydream. Next time, I’ll have to take my girls to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s work and Ernest Hemingway’s home in Oak Park. We'll drive out to Wilmette to see the Bahai House. I’ve added tons more sites I would love to see, especially houses of worship. There were so many gospel services, jazz services, and classical music worship services in incredible looking buildings. I wanted to get to them all!

When I consider the impact of the Foundation, it really didn’t take that many people to change the world. So often, global challenges seem so overwhelming.  It seems they require such large sums of money and large groups of people. A person could be forgiven for thinking they seem impossible. Yet, the CAF started with one project, and then undertook another, and it started growing. In forty years, using the good will and hard work of around 10,000 souls a year, they are producing world-class results. That seems so achievable. What exciting project could your good will and hard work enable?

Thank you, Chicago Architectural Foundation, for an inspiring summer of celebrating |"why design matters."
You gave me my very favorite experiences of "My Jubilant American Summer" in 2014!

Readers, I just realized I've written 63 other posts about architecture. You might enjoy them. Here are a few of my favorites:

In Illinois:

"Make No Little Plans..."

"America's Favorite Architecture"

|"America's Finest Example of Prairie-School Architecture"

"A Living Tribute to Abraham Lincoln"

"Why the Obama Presidential Library Should be Built in Springfield, Illinois"

In Prague:

"Was Living in Soviet Housing on my Bucket List?"

"Art Deco Elegance in Old Town Prague"

"I Needed Some Cash In My New Neighborhood"

Pavel's Prague, Part Two, The Grand Orient Cafe

In Istanbul:

An Afternoon of Art and Beauty at the Borusan Contemporary, Part One

Topkapi Palace, Part One

For My Jubilant American Summer, Part One, click here

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