(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 →

(photo by Lee Bey)

I took a stroll down State Street yesterday and took these photographs of the cast-iron restoration work at the former Carson Pirie Scott store.

There is some fascinating work going on there–right there on the sidewalk, right in plain view–as workers re-attach the restored pieces of century-plus iron ornament to the street-level frontage of Louis Sullivan’s masterpiece.  Just look at the entry vestibule now. Read the rest of this entry →

Cook County commissioners today unanimously approved a $108 million plan to preserve the gray lady of Harrison Street–the historic Cook County Hospital building–and convert the 96-year-old building into a hospital administration building.

With the 17-0 vote, county officials will ante- up $5 million, seek $24 million in city tax increment finance district funding, then sell bonds to pay for the remainder of the project. Nearly $20 million will be set aside to restore the building’s Beaux Art facade. The use of TIF funds for the project would require Chicago City Council approval.

The building is located at 1835 W. Harrison.

Built in 1914 and designed by county architect Paul Gerhardt and architecture firm Schmidt Garden & Martin, the building was Cook County government’s primary hospital until the new Stroger Hospital opened in 2002. Read the rest of this entry →

(photo by Lee Bey)

The old church–once a synagogue–crumbles on west Douglas Boulevard.

Built in 1913 as temple Anshe Kenesseth Israel, the house of worship was one of a handful of synagogues on Douglas during North Lawndale’s days as a Jewish community. The former synagogue buildings remain and have been predominantly African American churches since the 1960s.  This one–Shepherd’s Temple Baptist Church at 3411 W. Douglas–was the home of Friendship Baptist Church from 1962 until the congregation built its own iconic African-inspired edifice at 5200 W. Jackson in 1983. Read the rest of this entry →