Day 7: Firm Visits

July 31, 2012

Today was the most exciting day of the program- usually the favorite field trip. We had the exciting opportunity to visit two architecture firms based in Chicago.

First stop is Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture. This firm is known for its high-performance buildings, super-tall structures, and it plan for decarbonization. In other words, Smith + Gill is the Ferrari of architecture (and since their architecture is so high profile, it is also top -secret. No pictures were allowed on this tour). Our tours were led by Carlo Parente and Gail Borthwick, two Senior members of the firm. They showed us the facilities in their building, which includes a full-size model shop (unusual for architecture firms), as well as a few different departments. They have not only a conceptual team, but also and urban design and interior architecture team that all work together on large projects. Their most exciting current project is the Kingdom Tower, the world’s next tallest building a 1km tall in Saudi Arabia.

The models on display at Smith + Gill Architects

Our second stop is VOA. While this firm is similar in size to Smith + Gill, this firm operates in a completely different way. Their headquarters are located in Chicago, but they have several offices throughout the U.S. and the world. They work in many different building types, such as hospitality, healthcare, high education, corporate interiors, and mid-rise residential.

The other noticeable difference between the two firms is the way they work on projects. Smith + Gill works mainly on computers through renderings and 3D modeling software. VOA, on the other hand, works through sketches and quick drawings that are pinned up everywhere throughout the office. Smith + Gill is a very clean and organized space since their work is stored in their computers (models aside), while VOA is a more typical firm with their drawings overflowing their open work space.

The material library at the office of VOA Architects

Day 6: Building Tour + Final Project Reveal

July 30, 2012

Today was another day that began with a train ride into the city. First we reviewed our second homework assignment (gasp! we gave them homework!), a drawing of the plan of their houses. Then we went into the city to tour the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies and Culture. The tour was conducted by Tom Jacobs, a principal at the firm that designed the Institute, Krueck + Sexton Architects.

Tom Jacobs of Krueck + Sexton led our tour of the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies and Culture

He took us through the design process of the project, describing it as a ’3D puzzle’ because of the intricate way the programmatic elements fit together within the 10 stories of the building. The building sits on a very tight lot, so the only way to build was up. The institute consists of 10 floors, with the main sources of natural light coming only from the completely glass wall on the east side of the building.

A view of the 9th and 10th floor gallery spaces in the Spertus Institute

After our tour of the Institute, we crossed the street to see how the folded glass facade fits in with the rest of the historic Michigan Avenue streetscape. Down the street on Michigan Avenue, we stop to sketch a few times along Grant Park. The last stop is on the south end of the park in a large sculpture, 106 headless men.

Sketching among the 106 headless men sculpture in the south end of Grant Park.

After a busy morning, we headed straight to the studio after lunch. There, we instructed everyone to build a 3x3x3″ box of chipboard and glue, after a quick lesson in cutting with an xacto. When everyone was finally finished, we measured each box for accuracy. Most were so close, but Noel and Katie got very nit-picky; they measured to 1/32″.

We all piled in to our little lecture room inside our studio to talk about what everyone has been waiting for: the final studio project. We took our rather large site on 35th street (just south of the IIT campus) and divided it up into 29 plots of land, arranged along 35th street, Federal street and Dearborn street. Each plot was randomly assigned by pulling numbers out of a box. Each student will design a live/work space on their designated plot of land. It is up to the student what type of work space they design: it can be anything from an artist’s studio to a restaurant to a daycare. Each student also gets to decide what type of person or groups of people will live in their residences.

Though the students are given a lot of rules about where they can build and how big they can build, the project is very open ended. As soon as everything was explained, everyone was so excited, they got right to work!

A Weekend in Between

July 28th & 29th, 2012

So after all the tours and walking of the week, come Saturday, everyone was allowed to sleep in a bit and relax. But that didn’t stop the young students from waking up bright and early for a run to the Lakeshore. A group of 5 set out towards the rising sun and enjoyed the breeze along the lake running a distance of 6 miles to soldier field and back.

Once everyone was back, we all grabbed a quick brunch at the cafeteria and set out on a different paths. One group decided to go to the beach and another to the Lincoln Park Zoo. At the beach, the water was very warm and absolutely refreshing. Though it took us a while to get there as we were looking for volleyball at every convenience store along the way, we made it and found a spot for 15 on the Oak Street Beach. Some of the boys discovered a new game to play called “Spikeball” a combination of handball and volleyball around a small trampoline. After some practicing, they were ducking and diving for the ball with ease. While at the Zoo, the students were able to walk around and see the animals in the park along the pond. The highlights of the adventure were the sloths and gorillas who were quite active that afternoon.

Both groups eventually left their respective areas and met up for dinner at the renowned Gino’s East off of the “Magnificent Mile” where we all indulged in some Chicago deep dish pizza. After filling our stomachs, we left to catch a glimpse of Beethoven’s Fifth performed by the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra at the extravagant Pritzker Pavillion designed by Frank Gehry. Though I think many were tired from the beginning of the day and fell asleep to the performance. After a short snooze, the day did not end there for some. Half decided to return to campus and the other half wished to see the exciting fireworks display at Navy Pier. I was surprised to see that many were still up for walking longer distances. Arriving just in time to the Ferris Wheel at the Pier. We found spots against the railing and watched as the explosions of light played towards the tunes of popular musical artists.

 Finishing up the night, the group walked to the end of the pier and back and we all slowly got back on to the bus to head to IIT and get some much needed sleep, as we glimpsed a bit of the Olympic games.

Sunday was a much less crazy trip, but we all had one goal in mind and that was to see the new Dark Knight Rises movie. So after everyone had rested enough, we left to go see the movie downtown and were all very entertained. Though a very long action packed film. It held a strong cast of characters. A fine ending to the batman trilogy. After the showing, the group headed back to campus, and of course some students wanted to visit the famed Rock and Roll Mcdonald’s, one of the first designed with two floors supported by the grand golden arches. Back at the university, many chose to relax and prepare themselves for the upcoming week of final project work, touching up their assignments they had completed with a new and improved concept. It was a busy weekend full of walking and touring some of the fun summer events in Chicago, giving the students an extra boost of energy for the final week.

Day 5: Whimsical Oak Park

July 27th, 2012

Having an appointment at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio early in the morning, forced us to wake up earlier than usual and eat fast. We stepped on to the train as soon as we could and made it on time to the quaint and beautiful neighborhood of Oak Park. Walking through the streets of the old neighborhood, we could the clash of old styled brick homes each with a distinct character, housing coffee shops, antiques, and local restaurants. If you looked to the side, sometimes cobblestone streets would fill the pedestrian alleys.

Walking deeper into the neighborhood, we found ourselves right at the entrance to the famed Architect’s home. Being a smaller space, we broke up into groups and slowly proceeded through the home one by one. As it was photographs were not allowed, but that didn’t stop anybody from pulling out there handy sketchbooks to record their sights. It was an impressive home which surprisingly felt very comfortable, one could simply imagine the young boys and girls running through the halls and playing their instruments or playing pranks on their siblings. Our guides from the Frank Lloyd Wright Fund, all volunteers, had many stories to tell about this man’s life. All very intriguing from his passion for Japanese artwork to how he managed to grow a tree in his home and studio.

Neighboring Homes

Exiting the home and walking around the surroundings, we found many other houses designed and built by Mr. Wright, each with a resounding “prairie style” effect. Some were fabulously well kept and others on the brink of being torn down. Most could be distinguished as Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs, others complete copies. Having some extra time before our next tour, we decided to stop at the newly designed Oak Park Public Library and rest from the beating sun. Inside we were able to take a minute and pull out our sketchbooks to draw the complex and well designed space for reading and study.

Having cooled off in the air conditioned space we then were able to walk towards lunch at Geppetto’s where we enjoyed a selection salads and pizzas. Despite being an overwhelming group of 32, our waiter was fast and efficient and always wore a welcoming smile. It was a filling lunch and hit the spot just right on this hot afternoon. Having recovered some energy from the meal, we walked out towards Unity Temple, a Unitarian place of worship designed by Frank. As opposed to many others of his works, this one has remained open to the public and is still in constant use for services and concerts. Which to the delight of the students allowed them to freely wander, sketch and take pictures. The building was very simply made from concrete and followed some very concise and ingenious ideas about circulation and views for the crowd. It stands as one of his most cherished works and is still on going several stages of remodeling and upkeep. The students were able to learn a lot about light and spatial organization from Frank Lloyd Wright in his works. Hopefully they can re-use such concepts in their final projects to come.

Day 4: Trip to Millennium Park

July 26, 2012

Another day that starts with a train ride into the city! We [finally] get to visit a few of the icons of Chicago, located in Millennium Park. Millennium Park is also known as the World’s Largest Green Roof, since it was built on top of not only a rail yard, but also two levels of parking. Professor Barbara Geiger of IIT’s Landscape Architecture department led the tour.

We began out tour of Millennium Park at the peristyle on the northwest corner of the park.

We began our tour in the northwest corner of the park, the location of Chicago’s first ballpark. Professor Geiger led us through some of the gardens, explaining some of the plant choices along the way. Many of the larger plants are evergreens so they keep the park green year-round. After walking around the back end of the famous Pritzker Pavilion, we ended up in one of the largest collections of bicycles in the city of Chicago. This part of the park is used not only as a bike rental facility, but also a bike repair area and a bicycle parking area for the offices in the loop. There are also locker rooms with showers for those that commute by bike each morning.

The north end of the park is bike central! We are standing right to the south of the bike repair area.

After we admired the spectacular Frank Gehry designed Pritzker Pavilion,

Everyone standing together admiring the Pritzker pavilion, designed by Frank Gehry.

we walked along the only other piece of architecture in Chicago designed by Frank Gehry: the BP Bridge. It looks like a shiny aluminum snake the way it winds itself across Columbus Drive to connect to Grant park. We continued walking through the natural prairie landscapes of the Lurie gardens with the threat of rain hanging over our heads. Next on our agenda was the most photographed piece of art in Chicago: Cloud Gate Bridge. Cloud Gate is more popularly known as ‘the bean’ because of its form. It was an art installation commissioned by the city of Chicago designed by Anish Kapoor.

Everyone goofing around (especially Faustyn!) at the Bean!

After we got all of that goofiness out of our systems, Professor Geiger left us to explore Crown Fountain……which only led to more goofiness!

Morgan, Nick and Faustyn messing around in Crown Fountain

We tried to wait for everyone to dry off, but… some of us were pretty soaked. We did the best we could, but we had to send some back to the dorms to change into dry clothes for the rest of the afternoon. It had been threatening to rain all morning, so we took the outdoor lunch we had planned back to the studio.

We had a big afternoon planned! We divided up into our five groups again to make structures. But not just any structures! The structures were made of triangles, which consisted of three tightly rolled tubes of newspaper or magazine paper and taped together. The goal was to design a structure that worked with the triangular structure, but was also fun (I think we got some good ones)!

We spent the afternoon designing these structures out of newspaper triangles. This group designed a Ferris Wheel!

 

Day 3: Studio day!

July 25, 2012

Today was our first day completely in the studio. But don’t worry, we were still really busy!

We started off with a visit to our site for our final project, before it could get too hot. We instructed everyone to observe, measure, and document everything they could about the site. The catch? They had no ideas what the would be designing for the space! The purpose of this method of site analysis was to keep everyone open-minded and observing every possible detail of the site.

Everyone is out on the site measuring, observing and documenting!

After we gathered all the cold hard facts, we walked back across to IIT’s Idea Shop. The Idea Shop is a work space for students of all majors at IIT. There are all sorts of tools in addition to a small wood shop. Our tour guide, John, showed us all the fancy 3D printers, electrical equipment and shop tools before he let us loose to use the whiteboard walls. He booted up several projectors with Google Map images of our site onto the white boards so we could draw right on the the Google Map.

Collaborating on site observations at the Idea Shop

We also used this time to collaborate on the bigger ideas of what we hope to achieve through our design projects later in the program. We call this ‘concept development.’

After lunch, we took the ideas discussed around the whiteboards and brought them into a visual format. Using boxes (and boxes) of magazines, each of the five groups of students collaborated on a collage that represented their concepts of what the envision for the site. They turned out amazing! Each group spent the entire afternoon carefully selecting images and placing them together to create one cohesive idea.

Each group pinned up their collage for the class. Everyone had to guess the main ideas represented by the collage before each group presented.

Session 2 Day 2: A river ride through Chicago!

July 24th, 2012

Beginning our second day of the week, we had our first planned field trip in the downtown of Chicago. After a quick breakfast in the MTCC Commons Cafeteria, we met up with our instructors Katie Hart and Noel Turgeon to hop on the Green line straight into the heart of the city. Fearing the rain clouds would catch up to us, we all prepared our umbrellas. Thankfully, we never had to use them and enjoyed a wonderfully cool day out of the heat of the sun. 

Dressed in our “Less is More” iconic architectural Black, we regrouped at the riverbank to take in the height of the city. Each student then found a nook to relax in and sketch their surroundings, paying close attention to perspective and depth in their drawings. 

As we finished up our sketches in the park, we proceeded to walk along the river towards the “Chicago’s First Lady” (Chicago Architecture Foundation Boat Tour) where we filed on board and rode down the river listening to the complex history of the city of Chicago’s development. Our volunteer historian from the Foundation was able to answer many mysteries behind the form and function of each of the buildings along the river, ranging from Classical styles to Neo-Gothic, Art Deco and Modernist of course. We floated past buildings of Louis Sullivan, Bertrand Goldberg, Mies Van der Rohe, Daniel Burnham and many others. Each and every one with a defining shape and contrast to one another but still pleasantly adding to the growing skyline of Chicago. 

Pulling up the ropes at the dock, we headed towards the Art Institute in Grant Park grabbing a fine lunch hosted in the re-created Stock Exchange Trade Room. Once having filled our appetites, we were ready to continue exploring the vast collection of artwork stored in the museum. Walking through the exhibitions we transitioned from modern pop art to traditional impressionist back to modern sculpture and even to the very detailed art of Miniatures Construction. Everyone was able to explore at their own pace and able to enjoy their different preferences in artwork. In particular many enjoyed the new gallery of Roy Lichtenstein’s pop art work ranging from his very first experimental work to his famed comic strip works.

 

At the end of the day, we returned back to our studio to revisit everything we had seen today, looking back at our sketches and analyzing what we could perceive with the flick of a pencil. Tired from the day of walking, it was a nice break to revisit our sketches and rest for the upcoming day.