JOURNAL: Architecture in Chicago

This city is known for being the birthplace of the skyscraper and home of one of the world’s greatest skylines. Here are some photographs, thoughts, and information about some of these great places visited in Chicago.

The Illinois Institute of Technology has an amazing campus with twenty of Mies’ works; the greatest concentration of his buildings in the world. The materials are inspired by the factories and warehouses of Chicago's South Side and embodies 20th century methods and materials: steel and concrete frames with curtain walls of brick and glass. Other buildings in the campus from the late 50’s onward were given to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and more recent work to Rem Koolhaas.

Going everywhere and nowhere at the same time — Agora by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz is an installation in Grant Park made up of 106 2.7m headless and armless torsos fabricated from cast iron.

Oak Park is home to the world’s largest collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Walking around the neighborhood you can trace Wright’s early years, from his studio where the Prairie style was conceived, to Oak Park’s beautifully preserved private Prairie homes.

Unity Temple at Oak Park — Commissioned by the congregation of Oak Park Unity Church in 1905, Wright’s Unity Temple is the greatest public building of the architect’s Chicago years. In harmony with Wright’s philosophy of organic architecture, the concrete was left uncovered by plaster, brick, or stone. Wright’s sensitive handling of materials was a defining feature of his architecture from early in his career.

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