Jacques Brownson, architect of Daley Center and 55 E. Jackson building dies at 88
by Lee Bey | Feb. 22, 2012
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Jacques Brownson, the Aurora-born architect who would create two of the city's brawniest examples of 1960s steel-and-glass modernism as chief architect of the Daley Center and the dark-cloaked 55 E. Jackson skyscraper, has died at age 88.

Brownson died Sunday of a heart attack in Colorado, according to an obit by Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin. Brownson lived in Colorado since 1972.

Though not as popularly known as his midcentury contemporaries such his mentor Mies van der Rohe, or Bruce Graham of SOM, Brownson nonetheless left a mark. His Geneva House,...

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North Shore Blues: Is the wrecking ball pointed at historic Wilmette home?
by Lee Bey | Feb. 19, 2012
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In what could be a stunning architectural loss, a beautiful Wilmette residence with ties to three prominent 20th century architects--including Frank Lloyd Wright--could be demolished by a potential new owner who inquired last week about razing the site for new construction.

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Lost would be the James B. Irving House, built in 1928 on a spacious tree-lined lot on Isabella Street and designed by John S. Van Bergen, a Wright protege who became an important architect designing homes in Oak Park, River Forest and along the North Shore. The parcel includes a smaller home built in 1920 at the...

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The architectural beauty of St. Rita Parish
by Lee Bey | Feb. 16, 2012
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St. Rita of Cascia church cuts a commanding figure on the north side of 63rd Street at Fairfield Avenue.

Built in 1950, the Renaissance Revival church is a bit newer than its other classically-designed Roman Catholic churches around town. Despite is relative modernity, the church was designed with an eye toward the past and was given a wealth of old world detailing. Behold:

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Will Midway Airport project bring down an historic 1920s Clearing neighborhood building?
by Lee Bey | Feb. 12, 2012
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These are rough times, as of late, for buildings designed by architect Edward G. McClellan.

This month, the city demolished a beautiful but vacant three-story corner building designed by McClellan at 79th and Halsted after a portion of the structure collapsed and injured four passersby. And now, an occupied corner commercial building--designed by the same architect--in the Southwest Side neighborhood of Clearing would be razed under a plan to create a safety buffer around Midway Airport.

The 84-year-old Crane and Moreland building, 63rd and Central, sits across from the western edge of the airport. City officials fear that proximity places the building--and four properties surrounding the airport--in danger of being hit by planes landing or taking off. Six years ago, a...

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Cooler by the lake: The architecture of 320 W. Oakdale
by Lee Bey | Feb. 06, 2012
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In a town that celebrates its postwar modernist high-rises, the residential building at 320 W. Oakdale is a might overlooked.

Built in 1954, the 21-story tower has remarkable floor-to-ceiling windows that wrap the box like glass bands. And look at how those concrete floor slabs overhang, providing shade and passive cooling during the high summer sun. The building's Chicago-born architect, Milton Schwartz, was 29 when 320 W. Oakdale was completed. It's a nifty piece of work, especially for an architect so young. Schwartz originally intended the building to be circular--and this would have been just before Bertrand Goldberg's Marina City--as would have been his 36-story Hotel 71 (which opened as the Executive House in 1958) at 71 E. Wacker. In order get get financing, both buildings wound up as boxes, but no worse for the...

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On 79th Street: Architecture lost when the walls came tumbling down
by Lee Bey | Feb. 02, 2012
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The last thing the South Side needs is another vacant lot. But that's exactly what it'll get in a few days when the wreckage of a three-story commercial building in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood is cleared away.

That's because the long-vacant 86-year-old building on the southeast corner of 79th and Halsted--a faded terra cotta beauty weakened by time and neglect--gave way under its own weight Tuesday and partially collapsed. Four passersby received minor injuries from the falling debris. I visited the site last night with my camera. The streets and sidewalks near the intersection are closed off for a couple of blocks in either direction, but I was able to get these images by setting up in the parking lot of a CVS pharmacy on the northwest corner.

Built in 1926 and designed by architect Edward G. McClellan, the building was a graceful example of a 1920s neighborhood mixed-use commercial building: retail space on the...

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Could the city's Pullman community become home to Chicago's first national park?
by Lee Bey | Jan. 31, 2012
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The historic Pullman neighborhood--an architecturally-significant former 19th century company town that shaped transit, labor and American civil rights--could be on its way to becoming a national park under legislation to be proposed in Congress by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.

This week Jackson plans to introduce legislation asking the National Park Service to conduct a study to determine if the neighborhood's long-vacant Pullman Factory and Administration Building at 111th and Cottage Grove (seen above), the underutilized neighboring Hotel Florence and possibly other sites in the 130-year-old community could be turned into a national park. The study is a mandated first step in a process that, if successful, could put the neighborhood's most significant buildings under the purview and management of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Jackson, whose congressional district includes the neighborhood, is scheduled to...

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Something to chew on: Wrigley Building possibly headed for landmark status
by Lee Bey | Jan. 30, 2012
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The Wrigley Building--the Boul Mich's two-towered architectural wedding cake that has adorned countless postcards, movie scenes and photos since the 1920s--is scheduled to take a step toward protected landmark status this week, according to an agenda sent to members of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.

Staff from the Historic Preservation Division of the city's Department of Housing and Economic Development are set to ask the eight-member commission to confer preliminary landmark status on the internationally-known icon at 410 N. Michigan at the body's Thursday meeting. A Class L property tax incentive for the Wrigley is also being recommended for approval, the agenda said. Once landmarked, the incentive would provide 12 years of reduced tax assessments for the Wrigley Building's owners, provided they engage in rehab that equals 50 percent the value of the structure. Wrigley was sold last year for $33 million to a group...

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Lee Bey

Lee Bey is interested in studying, covering and impacting architecture, urbanism, historic preservation and the role politics play in the creation of the built environment. He was architecture critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, worked as a mayoral deputy chief of staff for Richard M. Daley, served as director of governmental affairs for the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings & Merrill, and now is executive director of the Chicago Central Area Committee.

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