Floating Floors
Slabs of concrete float out beyond glass walls and hover in the air like giant louvers.
Milton Schwartz was 26 years old when he opened his architectural practice. He designed
this building in 1953, his first big commission. Mies van der Rohe had rocked the architectural world with his glass boxes on Lake Shore Drive just two years earlier in 1951. Milton Schwartz's building sits a few miles north of those two buildings and he took Mies' modern box and pushed it out beyond its frame.
I once knew a couple who lived in an apartment at 320 Oakdale. Because Milton had
extended the floor plane out beyond the columns and the window wall, you had this weird sensation that you were floating out in space when you looked out at the cityscape while standing in the living room. The result of one of those eye to brain tricks, I guess.
From a distance the building may not look like much to you, but at certain angles it
certainly makes for some interesting photographs. And if you can ever weasel your way into an apartment, it's well worth the effort, trust me.
Posted by designslinger at 1/7/2010 1:30 AM 
Categories: Architecture
Tags: Chicago modern Milton M. Schwartz 320 W. Oakdale Chicago
Categories: Architecture
Tags: Chicago modern Milton M. Schwartz 320 W. Oakdale Chicago
One of my faves! How would you compare it to Studio Gang's Aqua? Happy 2010!
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Oakdale makes me think German. Language and country. Aqua, I think Spain. From the coast of Barcelona to Cadiz. And both incredibly elegant.
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