Architecture & Chicago (intersection of tags)
76 Architecture posts • 930 Chicago posts • 64 in common
- I painted a Georgia O’Keeffe on the front of my houseI started repairing hail damage and accidentally created a large-scale exterior art installation.
- Is the City Gallery at Water Tower still showing exhibitions?Giving an urban icon a second life, then watching that life quietly fade. One of the few buildings to survive the Great Chicago Fire, the Chicago Water Tower still stands on Michigan Avenue. It’s part of the identity of Chicago.…
- The Rock ’n’ Roll McDonald’s and the problem with computer-rendered buildingsThe 2005 Rock ’n’ Roll McDonald’s was torn down and replaced with a lifeless version.
- Window washer in 1932, seen again 75 years laterIn 1932, an illustrator drew a window washer for Fortune magazine. In 2007, I photographed a window washer from my desk at Tribune Tower. Same view? Maybe.
- Tribune Tower’s mystery rooftop roomWhat stands at the very top of the iconic Tribune Tower? And how I did I discover this room?
- Rock architecture in urban empty lotEmpty lots are fascinating. The natural growth that naturally occurs in the desolate, unattended land. Plants sprouting up, giving life. The fence sign declares no trespassing. Don’t even think about stepping foot onto this land. However, someone ignored this warning,…
- Estonia exhibit in Chicago Daley Plaza: June 2-5, 2019Two of my favorite things have crossed roads. The Chicago Picasso and Estonia. While walking to work on a Monday morning, a giant photo Arvo Pärt (the Estonian composer) greeted me right by the Chicago Picasso. Wow! What is this?!…
- Not the Tiffany DomeThe Chicago Cultural Center is home to the world’s largest Tiffany glass dome. It’s beautiful. I love the Cultural Center. Now that I work across the street from this wonderful landmark, I’ve been eating my lunches in the room on…
- I did a five-foot wide pencil rubbing on my last day in the Tribune TowerGoodbye, Tower. I just left the Tribune Tower for the last time. On my way out, I made a giant five-foot wide pencil rubbing. Here’s a four-minute video with me narrating its creation along with a time-lapse. Etched into the…
- Why I’m not that sad to leave the Tribune TowerMany of the Tribune journalists have been tweeting and writing emotional stories about leaving the Tribune Tower. The Tribune big columnists are writing some very poignant stories. Page two columnist John Kass, architecture critic Blair Kamin, Pulitzer-Prize winner Mary Schmich…
- Tribune Tower plans to become a rocketshipOne more week in the Tribune Tower. Next Friday, we move. Word around is that right after we move, the entire building is being gutted. Right away. We aren’t allowed to come back. The following Monday we immediately go to…
- Tribune Tower’s End of Story tshirtIn less than two months, the Chicago Tribune will be moving out of Tribune Tower, into the Prudential Building four blocks south on Michigan Avenue. From 1925 to 2018, we’ve been here for 93 years. And now we are leaving…
- Two minutes on Dominica flag from a Walgreens windowI stood in a Walgreens dish soap aisle for two minutes recording a video of the store window. Why? Because this Walgreens, in the historic Wrigley Building, features a fantastic view of 34 flags of all the South and North…
- Design flaw in Apple flagship store[Update: Apple has explained they do have a heated roof. Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune reports: “The roof has a warming system that’s built into it,” Apple spokesman Nick Leahy said. “It needed some fine-tuning and it got re-programmed…
- Podcast about architecture personasDo you ever feel like creating personas for your favorite buildings? In this podcast, I explore a couple art project ideas to give fun identities to architecture. I have 18 podcasts recorded in 2009. Every week, I will post one…
- A giant magenta László Moholy-NagyThe giant magenta mural stood out in the corner of my eye while crossing the street. I thought, “isn’t that László Moholy-Nagy?” I had been walking away from the mural, but I re-crossed the street to get a closer look.…
- Fog and bridgetowersNortheast bridgetower at sunset A fog crawls over the Chicago River. Fog can create amazing scenes. Get close enough to the subject, and it really pops as the background is covered in a blanket of fog. Couple that with a…
- Chicago skyline from RiverwalkThe sun sets on Monday, two days after the Chicago River was dyed green for the St. Patrick’s Day festival. The Wrigley Building, Tribune Tower, and Equitable Building admire how bright green the river is. You can’t quite tell, but…
- A secret closet in the Tribune Tower has one of my photos on displayThe Tribune Tower has many locked doors leading to secret closets. Walk down any hallway, and you are sure to encounter a locked door that leads to a mysterious place. One of these such doors is on the 14th floor…
- Spudart photos reach pinnacle on FlickrEvery day Flickr ranks the top 500 photos posted to popular photo sharing service. 1.4 million photos are posted to the service every day, so to be ranked in the top 500 is quite an achievement. In 2014 alone, I…
- Secrets behind origin of Wrigley Building design revealed by mythical artistMany of Chicago’s iconic buildings are white today, because of an unknown artist working today. This artist has managed to keep his identity relatively unknown for the past hundreds of years. He’s also managed to stay alive for the past…
- LEGO bricks or limestone: which is more durable?Old skyscrapers falling apart because of their limestone exterior. Over time the limestone becomes weak and crumbles. Restoration projects take quite some time to replace the damaged limestone. The Crains Communication building in Chicago is going through an extensive limestone…
- Stunningly beautiful Walgreens inside landmark Wrigley BuildingDo you love amazing views? Do you love amazing architecture details? The next place you should visit is–surprise! Walgreens. Walgreens recently moved 40 steps from its cramped quarters above the Billy Goat into the first and second floor of the…
- Chicago flowers, tourists, architecture, flag, architectureWhen one photo is able to capture multiple stories, you have a photo that tells one million words. Read about each of the stories below this loooong vertical pano photo. Flowers Emerging from a long cold winter, Chicago’s flowers grow…
- Name changes: Willis, Macy’s, U.S. CellularDon’t call it Willis Don’t call it Macy’s Don’t call it U.S. Cellular But why? Gapers Block sells a five-pack of “Don’t call it that” buttons. The tagline is “Buttons for true Chicagoans.” To complement this pack, I would like…
- Trump Tower & Pacific Rim mashupI would like to share a cool mashup that Cure4 made with my Trump Tower photo. It’s cool seeing someone make something rad with your work.
- How many doors are on your commute?It's fun photographing all the doors you walk through on your commute. Someday try counting them all.
- King Kong climbs Wrigley Building in ChicagoWhen a tiny King Kong meets architectural history: A playful moment captured atop the iconic Wrigley Building.
- Transformers totally destroy Chicago STOP WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING AND WATCH THE NEW TRANSFORMERS TRAILER. At first when I was watching it, I thought, “oh this is neat” but then they showed more and more Chicago, and i was like WHOA WHOA I CAN’T…
- Chicago City Hall during Christmas is beautifulThe old marble walls are lit up with alternating green and red lamps. It’s simply majestic. During lunch I walked from the Tribune Tower down to Daley Plaza looking for Christmas things to photograph. The Christkindl Market in Daley Plaza…
- The Grand and not-so-Grand new staircases for the CTA red line stationWhat’s your choice? Walking up a nice set of granite stairs or up an echoing metal staircase? You couldn’t have more a difference between the two new staircases installed in the Grand red line station. For the commuters from the…
