Which Chicago Building Matches Your Zodiac Sign?
It’s easy to talk about Chicago architecture. Names, dates, styles, stories. The hard facts of history and design make our jobs as Chicago tour guides very tangible. But what about the other side? The ineffable, mysterious, or spiritual sides of Chicago architecture? Well, we don’t go in for ghost stories very often, but another idea occurred to us. […]
The Musical Chicago Story of the Mecca Flats
The loss of historic architecture, such as Chicago’s Mecca Flats, is not unusual in an ever-changing city. Some the great architecture of Chicago stands on sites of buildings that we would be sad to know are now gone – if we had indeed ever been familiar with their architectural spaces. After guiding one of our Loop Interior Architecture […]
Meditating on Modernist Architecture with Mies
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is the master of modernist architecture. This is, of course, an architectural style that many could easily do without. Mies’ black box steel-frame buildings have no intricate details or Greek columns; their interiors have no marble staircases or glimmering mosaics. So what’s the big deal, right? Well, Mies essentially ushered […]
A Hidden Piece of Mies in Chicago
Many of us are familiar with at least the name of Mies van der Rohe. His iconic modernist buildings in Chicago include IIT’s campus, including the sublime Crown Hall, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, and the Federal Center. (For a brief, but excellent overview of Mies, see Geoffrey Baer’s summary or join us for a custom private […]