The ground rumbles when a titan falls. That certainly was the case when news of architect Bruce Graham’s death at age 84 made the rounds last week.

Graham led the Chicago office of SOM from the 1960s through the late 1980s, designing a collection of buildings any one of which could have made an architect’s career:  Sears Tower, John Hancock Center, the Inland Steel Building–he took over the design from SOM’s Walter Netsch who went west to work on the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs)–and more. Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin superbly wrapped up Graham’s life here, by the way. Read the rest of this entry →

(photo by Lee Bey)

Sights and scenes a few nights ago in downtown Chicago (and River North.) The above photo is a bus stop on Chicago Avenue. Below, a guy peeps into the Fireside restaurant on Ohio St: Read the rest of this entry →

(photo by Lee Bey)

Over the weekend, I took a spin by the old St. John of God Church in the New City community.

Built in 1918 for the once-predominantly Polish neighborhood, St. John of God is one of several architecturally revivalist Chicago churches designed by Henry J. Schlacks. His work for the Chicago Roman Catholic Archdiocese from the 1890s through the 1920s includes St. Adalbert’s near 17th and Ashland; St. Gelasius at 64th and Woodlawn and St. Paul Church at 22nd and Hoyne, a Gothic edifice marked by twin 245 ft towers. Read the rest of this entry →

(photo by Lee Bey)

The late Chicago architect Bertrand Goldberg was best known for his iconic mid-century Marina City complex and its 1980s cousin, River City, just south of the Harrison along the Chicago River.

Lesser known–but worthy of attention–is the above Goldberg-designed house located in the southern suburb of Blue Island.  (Yes, Blue Island.  So put those eyebrows down. The town has a fine collection of historic residential architecture, particularly from the 1920s. Many of the streets are indistinguishable from those found in neighboring Beverly.) Read the rest of this entry →

(photo by Lee Bey)

Blue Cross/Blue Shield Tower was 33 stories when it opened in 1997. But then it turned 10 and hit a growth spurt.

A team lead by Goettsch Partners (Jim Goettsch designed the building while a partner at the architecture firm behind the original tower, the former Lohan Associates) added 24 stories to the tower.  Much of that work–done while the building,  300 E. Randolph, was still occupied–is finishing up this year. Read the rest of this entry →

(photo by Lee Bey)

I was cruising through the West Side a few days ago when I stumbled across this five-story commercial building at 4130 W. Madison.

Built in 1929, it is another vacant West Side building. End of story? Not so fast.  Slow down a bit and you’ll notice the eight-decade history of the nearby Madison/Pulaski commercial district is etched across the building’s weathered face. Read the rest of this entry →

The 124th anniversary of architectural great Mies van der Rohe’s birth is March 25th, so I’ll be blogging Mies stuff here and there throughout the month.

Today’s offering is an ingenious Mies music video by TV/video producer and one-time Chicagoan Ted Kamp. Kamp did the video a couple of years ago and the song is catchy as all get-out, I must warn you.  I did an email Q&A with Kemp two years ago for my old Urban Observer blog. Here’s what we said: Read the rest of this entry →

I believe this would be a first for the Vocalo bloggers as Lee Bey showed up on Chicago Tonight Wednesday to talk about the Cook County Hospital building!

(photo by Lee Bey)

Have you noticed the Plymouth Building?

The sliver of a skyscraper, 417 S. Dearborn, hides out between Holabird & Root’s  historic Old Colony Building to the north and William LeBaron Jenney’s Manhattan Building to the south; a waterboy caught between a pair of linebackers.

But the 11-story Plymouth Building holds it own between the two architectural giants.  So much so, the city’s Commission on Chicago Landmarks was set to consider preliminary landmark status for 110-year-old building today as part of a redevelopment project to convert the vacant structure into a student housing. Read the rest of this entry →