Aqua
[Aqua (2010) Studio/Gang, architects /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
Just over a month ago, the MacArthur Foundation announced the winners of their $500,000 2011 fellowship grants, and Jeanne Gang, only the 4th architect to receive the honor out of the 850 given so far, became a fellow. To date, Aqua, which opened its doors in 2010, is the internationally recognized crown jewel in Studio/Gang's portfolio.
[Aqua, 225 N. Columbus Drive, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
Aqua's undulating sensuality is home to offices, condo dwellers, apartment renters and a soon to open hotel. The building became an instant Chicago landmark, a stand-out among history making stand-out architecture. It put Jeanne Gang and the Studio on the map.
[Aqua, Chicago /Image & Artwork: designslinger]
It's hard to believe that this building, or any of the others in the cluster of structures just north of Millennium Park, sits on a site, that just 40 years ago, was a closed down railyard. In the 1850s the Illinois Central Railroad established an 83-acre railyard just east of Michigan Avenue along the lakefront and the main branch of the Chicago River. By the 1920s the railroad realized that the land was too valuable to have it just sitting there moving around freight, when the company decided it was ripe for development. After a few fits and starts, things really got rolling in the mid 60s when hearings were held on the sale of air rights for the future Illinois Center. The project was envisioned to take 30 years to complete, and 40 years later there are still a few holes waiting to be filled, before the entire project reaches capacity. And although there are several high profile designs within the Center's original boundaries from architects like Mies van der Rohe, none packs quite the visual punch of Aqua's fluid, floating facade.
Posted by designslinger at 10/17/2011 3:50 AM 
Categories: Architecture, Urban Planning, Architects, History
Tags: Jeanne Gang Studio Gang Illinois Center
Categories: Architecture, Urban Planning, Architects, History
Tags: Jeanne Gang Studio Gang Illinois Center
Comments