814
North Franklin Street
Suite 400
Chicago, Illinois 60610
(P) 312.337.3344
(F) 312.337.8009
Developing a Community
(Comprised from a 2008 interview)
Many architecture firms become recognized for creating beautiful, sleek, and innovative buildings. Whether these buildings shoot up into the infinite blue, demonstrate values, or house some of our most prized possessions, they typically stand alone in solemnity. Today's architecture firms take on these "breakout" projects focusing all their energy on this one structure by creating what they hope to be an "icon" from start to finish.
Pappageorge and Haymes Ltd. has been a firm with much of their focus in the Chicagoland area via large contributions to housing restorations, townhome communities, and even residential skyscrapers. In Chicago's continually emerging, constantly evolving cityscape, this is a firm that seems to be determined to be front and center in the discussion as to what shape this city's built environment is going to take in the near and distant future. Creating whole "walkable" communities with local restaurants, retail, entertainment, accessible transportation and communal green space has become a primary way in which Pappageorge & Haymes is leading the way in fostering interaction between people and the built environment.
One of their best examples of
this firm's community approach is the Glen Tower Center
located in Glenview, IL. This project focused on the
redevelopment of an
abandoned
naval air base through providing high-density housing and
mixed-use programs. The Glen Tower Center incorporates
townhomes, apartments, retail shops, department stores, a
movie theater, parking facilities , and of course,
restaurants. The area also takes advantage of open park
spaces, allowing people to escape from the congestion of
main street. Glen Tower Center has been extremely successful
in its objective to create an environment in which people
can comfortably interact with each other and their
surroundings. The main street draws people into the downtown
area which gives life to the complex, providing support for
retail stores and restaurants. By respecting the historical
and architectural significance of the naval base environs,
the project with its attention to detail takes on a unique
character and an elegant overtone.
One of Pappageorge and Haymes
Ltd. more current projects in Chicago is looking toward
establishing a very similar environment to the Glen Tower
Center. In the boomtown that is the South Loop, Museum Park
has become an opportunity to develop the urban character of
a large plot of land. The area will combine townhouses,
apartment units, retail and restaurants, on a much larger
scale in a more highly visible venue. Additionally, the deve
lopment
proposal consists of large skyscrapers, specifically, One
Museum Park East, near completion, and One Museum Park West,
which is under construction which will provide the
residential density. Aesthetically, these towers bring a
distinctly contemporary feel to the neighborhood which sits
not far from the rustic brick tenor of Printer's Row with
their use of curved glass and steel. Conversely, the
completed townhome components demonstrate a more traditional
style utilizing red brick and white trim. Tying these two
opposing components together with a more conservative
contemporary motif are the Museum Park low-rise towers. As a
whole, the Museum Park project differs from the Glen Tower
Center's architectural continuity in that it takes on more
of the characteristics of a city rich in design diversity.
Only time will tell if the Museum Park development will
create the same sense of place and community that exists at
the Glen Tower Center. Being located near the Museum campus
gives this community a focal point and unique opportunity to
make a bold statement on the current progress and future
outlook of our efforts at creating successful "livable"
communities. If they can continue to master their
objectives, Pappageorge and Haymes Ltd. will be able to look
back on many iconic moments throughout their tenure here in
Chicago.
By Ross Renjilian
200
South
Michigan Avenue
Floor 14
Chicago, Illinois 60604
(P) 312.786.0500
(F) 312.786.0501
Discovering the "Spirit" of the World's Built Environment
Louis Sullivan once noted in observation of the Beaux Arts-styled European architecture being constructed at the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, “this will set American architecture back 100 years.” In the spirit of design progressives like Sullivan and his protégé Frank Lloyd Wright, Stephen Yas of YAS Architecture, LLC has demonstrated that the future of architectural design is embracing the forward flow of our time and its advancing technologies while respecting the past and the contextual realm resulting from that past. With over 18 years of experience in the upper echelons of Chicagoland’s professional design community, YAS Architecture, LLC has developed a reputation for innovation and bold movements into contemporary interpretations of today’s design challenges.
YAS Architecture specializes in architecture, interior design and urban design and within those program parameters, divides its work equally between both public and private sectors. Some of the firm’s most notable projects include Village Centers in Willow Springs, IL and Plainfield, IL, a re-development and revitalization of a central section of Evanston through the Church/Dodge Neighborhood Center in Evanston, IL, an innovative Fire Station #3 in Evanston and Vernon Area Public Library in Lincolnshire, IL and Village Halls in Wilmette and Vernon Hills. Also, currently underway is an iconic high-rise project in Medellin, Colombia. Soon to become the tallest building in Latin America at 1000 feet, Faro Monarca Tower could symbolize an important advancement in the economic fortunes and world perceptions of Colombia.
Functionality in modern design is the foundation of a philosophy which drives design parameters at Yas Architecture, LLC. “I [rarely] talk about style [issues] with a client, but function,” says Stephen Yas. “I gauge success by client satisfaction in the area of functionality. To achieve this, we don’t just talk to the decision-makers [for a public project], but we go to the rank and file who will be most effected by livability issues.” YAS Architecture recognizes the importance of connecting with the “spirit” of a culture throughout the design process in order to more successfully translate into an effective and pleasing outcome in the eyes of the people of a community. With these principles firmly in hand, YAS Architecture, LLC is proud to make significant and lasting contributions to not only the Chicagoland built environment, but also around the world well into the 21st Century.
625 N.
Michigan Avenue
Suite 800
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(P) 312.896.1100
(F) 312.896.1200
SCB Altering the Chicago Skyline
A
characteristic that makes Chicago such a visual feast is our
skyline. It is a skyline of which we can be proud. It is a
skyline that stands confident against the horizon, and
poetically expresses the beauty of a city that draws its
grace from its lakefront, movement from its elevated trains,
and swagger from its skyscrapers. Over the years, our
skyline has evolved and expanded, representing new design
trends, technologies, and strengths. Although the skyline is
a collaborative effort, where no one building stands by
itself, there is one firm, which has had a large impact on
the city, and is beginning to help create a new face for
Chicago as we push through the 21st Century.
Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) is a Chicago-based firm, which has been contributing to Chicago’s built environment for 78 years. In fact, SCB’s fingerprint can be found on a significant portion of the city’s skyline from North Michigan Avenue to the South Loop. Buildings such as 340 on the Park to The Heritage at Millennium Park to Parkview Towers are only a sampling of SCB’s architectural legacy in Chicago.
Currently, SCB is expanding their firm nationally with future goals to reach out internationally. Such efforts include the recent opening of an office in San Francisco, which they are expecting to rapidly grow, and new projects in various states including Pennsylvania and other parts of California. Their philosophy is that one has to learn how to walk before they can run, so they are progressively moving toward an international influence in the realm of architecture, of course with Chicago being the base for their endeavors.
The firm takes on a wide
range of projects, but they tend to focus on what they do
best: complex tall buildings. Instead of creating a building
for one specific purpose, SCB looks at creating buildings
with an array of different programs including: retail bases,
dense parking, public space, residential space, garden/green
space and even hotel components. Each building is then
broken up into their different segments with focus on the
quality of space. SCB is also very focused on “going green”,
by using new technologies and design implications (curtain
walls, cross ventilation, and ceiling thermal radiation),
which drastically reduce the building’s energy consumption.
One of their most notable buildings, 340 on the Park, is a perfect combination of complex programming and green technology. The owner, Related Midwest, earnestly pushed for the building to be green-by-design and by doing so, 340 on the Park is the first high-rise residential complex to be awarded LEED certification in the Midwest. LEED certification is a ranking system based on a series of points awarded for building efforts in sustainable design. 340 on the Park achieved this certification for its ability to reduce energy consumption in the 62-story building by 10% (the equivalent to powering 60 2,200 sq ft homes). It primarily does this through the use of a glass curtain wall, which is able to drastically decrease energy loss. Some other sustainable touches are the use of non-toxic materials throughout the building. The design also designates the 25th floor as a communal, recreation and garden space. The building was recently completed and it is located right next to Chicago’s iconic Millennium Park and uses the green space for positive views for the residential component.
SCB
also has several complex tall buildings around Millennium
Park including the completed Heritage, the under
construction Legacy, and The Mandarin Hotel. As mentioned
above, each building uses a series of complex programming,
with a stronger focus on residential, with the Mandarin
including a large hotel component. The plan of pursuing
residential structures is to create a desire to live in the
downtown area, which is an important element of Chicago’s
city life.
With all of the additions to
the built environment of Chicago, the skyline is taking on
more of a contemporary look and feel. SCB’s new additions
use a formal language of sleek and crisp towers that shoot
up into the sky along with some restored facades on the
street level. The use of glass gives the towers a modern
feel, which is appropriate for the program and sustainable
technology. In contrast, the reusing of street facades
demonstrates SCB’s love for the city and its history.
Overall SCB’s towers continue to play a major role in the
advances our skyline makes, and strengthens Chicago’s place
as a world leader in innovative form and function. SCB may
be changing our legendary Chicago Skyline, but as time will
reveal, Chicago should be the better for it.
By Ross Renjilian
Murphy/Jahn Architects
35
East Wacker Drive
3rd Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60601
info@murphyjahn.com
(P) 312.427.7300
(F) 312.332.0274
Making its mark upon the built environment worldwide, Murphy/Jahn has been at the forefront of modernism in architectural design for over 50 years. Founded by Helmut Jahn, Murphy/Jahn has put its mark on the Chicago landscape with the number of projects proliferated throughout the metropolitan area and by the risk-taking nature of many of these same projects. Additionally, this international design team have pioneered innovations in areas of technology and structural engineering. Central to realization of these technologies is the firm's use of digital processes in bringing ideas to their clients.
State Street Village at IIT Campus, Chicago
The value of Murphy/Jahn’s digital tools is realized in the integration of the design, documentation, and project management process. As a result, CADD is much more than a fast electronic pencil. Visualization models are more powerful than multiple static perspectives. Linked spreadsheets & databases synthesize a wealth of design analysis & documentation resources. With our integrated digital tools, we produce high quality documents, with improved discipline coordination, in a short period of time. Internet connection collapses time and distance when using digital files. Drawings are exchanged globally in minutes - 24hrs/day. CADD drawings can be plotted on line in another city from a computer hundreds or thousands of miles away - day or night. Cross Country and International collaboration is not hampered by the time change. For example, architectural drawing files produced in Chicago are transferred via e-mail at the end of business day to a structural consultant in Europe; the consultant works all day and returns design options via e-mail for incorporation in architectural CADD file by start of business day in Chicago. The key to our successful application of digital tools is information sharing & communication.
Near North SRO, Chicago
In Chicago, Helmut Jahn burst upon the high profile architectural scene with such commissions as the glitzy United Airlines Terminal neon lightshow, the canyon-like atrium of the Illinois Center, and the forward-looking Xerox Centre building. Recipient of the 2005 AIA Architecture Firm Award and like honors for many other structures of note, Jahn has recently taken on diverse projects such as the State Street Student Housing at IIT completed in 2003, the similarly-designed Near North SRO and the recently completed 600 North Fairbanks glass condominium high-rise downtown. Typically, Jahn's buildings are readily identifiable and are not shy when it comes to taking center stage in their surroundings.
European Union, Brussels, Belgium
Helmut Jahn was born January 4, 1940 in Nürnberg, Germany. He graduated from Technische Hochschule, Munich, Germany in 1965. In the mid-60's Jahn did his graduate studies at Illinois Institute of Technology afterwards becoming an assistant to Gene Summers, C.F. Murphy Associates. He shortly rose to become Executive Vice President and Director of Planning and Design, C.F. Murphy Associates in the early 70's and became a principal at Murphy/Jahn by 1981. Jahn was appointed Visiting Professor at Design Studio at the University of Illinois Circle Campus, Chicago Illinois as well as Elliot Noyes Professor of Architectural Design at Harvard University in 1981. In 1982 Helmut Jahn became President of Murphy/Jahn and both President and CEO, Murphy/Jahn in 1983. Appointed a Fellow American Institute of Architects in 1987 and a Thesis professor at Illinois Institute of Technology in the early 90's, Jahn was named one of the Ten Most Influential Living American Architects by the American Institute of Architects in 1991.
Sony Center, Berlin, Germany
As adventurous as Jahn's projects appear to be here locally, his firm has won numerous commissions in Europe and many in his native Germany making Murphy/Jahn one the world's leading firms annually in gross billings. Some of the firm's most notable buildings abroad include: the 63-story Max high-rise in Frankfort, Germany, the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, and the Sony Center in Berlin. With its tendency toward boldness in innovative engineering solutions and pioneering architectural designs, Murphy/Jahn shows no signs of slowing down with age.
Max, Frankfort, Germany
Mies was ahead of his time. He used materials and techniques which pushed the limits of available technology. Buildings in the year 2000 and beyond cannot be made of brick and steel. They will be built with new available technologies, using elements with changing properties. The skins of the buildings will integrate energy through the use of photosynthetic, photovoltaic or photochromatic processes. This is possible through the change of the traditional architect-engineer relationship.
The ultimate purpose of architecture, say a thousand years from now, will be to construct shells for community life, made of thin, transparent, elastic membranes, that are actually designed to protect people from unpredictable, natural events happening outside. “Weight” will lose any inherent sense and opacity alone will meet the need to obscure views and light. This sense of structural composition, in view of the limits imposed by current technology, is attracting ever greater attention from contemporary designers who have decided to live optimistically in harmony with the modern spirit of our age.
Helmut Jahn
Design Organization, Inc.
300
West Hubbard Street
Suite 201
Chicago, Illinois 60610
info@designorg.com
(P) 312.324.5500
(F) 312.324.5501
Design Organization, Inc.
57
Franklin Street
Suite 201
Valparaiso, Indiana 46383
(P) 219.476.1400
(F) 219.476.1401
Established in 1971, DO has a reputation throughout the Chicago and Northwest Indiana region as a creative, client-focused architecture and design firm. This practice philosophy has earned DO a distinguished list of repeat clients in the design of workplace, healthcare, academic and institutional environments. Design Organization has offices in Chicago and Valparaiso, Indiana.
Chicago Architecture Today was given an opportunity to get acquainted with this innovative local firm through an on-site interview with Spero W. Valavanis, principal at DO, Inc. at DO, Inc's River North office.
* * *
Can you give us a brief history of Design Organization, Inc. (DO) in the Chicagoland area?
We began 36 years ago in Valparaiso, IN and we are coming up on our 25th year in Chicago. We currently staff 33 people which includes 22 in Valparaiso and 11 in Chicago. There are six principles and four associates which are all directly involved in design projects everyday. Also, there is very little turnover in this firm as we believe in managed growth.
Is there a specific scope of project design DO, Inc. specializes in?
Our work encompasses a broad range of project types including health care and higher education facilities, corporate interiors, civil and community-based commissions.
Portage Lakefront Park Pavilion
How would you characterize the uniqueness of DO, Inc. in terms of the qualities which have made it successful in the design/build industry?
Well, the fact that we are relationship-based [is foundational to who are and what we do]. Unparalleled service is why have been in business since 1971. Our passion is design and we will do whatever it takes to make our jobs successful. Additionally, we listen to clients which is not imply others don’t. It’s just that we have an approach where we don’t go into a project thinking how we can conform it into our idea of what it should be, but rather how can we best express the vision of what our client (sees). As s result, 90 percent of our business is repeat customers.
Could you elaborate further on this special dynamic you’re striving for between you and your clients?
We want to be able to provide our clients with the ability to [effectively] communicate [their ideas]. Sometimes they don’t know how to make the things that they need and want in a project come together in a comprehensive and satisfying whole. That’s where we believe we can make a difference as a catalyst for change.
Saint Anthony Medical Center Outpatient/Ambulatory Campus
What are some current technologies DO, Inc. is using to assist in design expressions?
Our 3D-imaging and rendering capabilities are unmatched. We utilize multi-platform hardware and software; QTVR virtual tours, animation, photorealistic as well as non-photorealistic techniques are employed as the client’s needs dictate
Tell us a few of the projects past and/or present in which you have experienced the greatest sense of accomplishment.
One of the first which comes to mind is our achievement of BP Amoco’s first LEED certified project at Cantera along the I-88 toll way corridor. We currently are doing a project in Portage, IN which is a bit of a departure from the norm for us. It is a 6,000 sq ft park pavilion on the lakeshore and is one of those uniquely challenging yet fun assignments we all like to partake in from time to time. The Pavilion will utilize recycled brick and steel, forestry and certified wood, green roofing, and reclaimed grey water systems. The design is a series of metaphors; the green roof reflecting the soft forms of the dunes or waves, the wood soffit-the hull of a boat, and the fireplace-hearth and home.
BP Cantera 3 Corporate Workplace
We also, have done a lot of work for Valparaiso University in that region. At the University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC), we renovated Lincoln Hall which consists of repairing and protecting the deteriorating exterior structure coupled with a plan to provide daylighting and views that were not part of the original design. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems also will be brought up to new classroom environmental and computer technology requirements. This is to be their first LEED certified building as well.
UIC Lincoln Hall Classroom Building Renovation
How would you sum up DO, Inc.’s relationship with Chicago and its surrounding environs?
We love River North. We believe Chicago is doing a phenomenal job in sustainable design and planning. The suburbs are also a great opportunity for us but obviously have a little different dynamic taking place as many are fighting the battle of sustainable development for the first time. They are increasingly inquiring of us ad to whether we have any LEED staff.
In what ways does DO, Inc. engage the community?
Every potential staff member we interview should be able to show us a history of some level of involvement in their community. In our non-profit benefits, charitable functions, and job-shadowing opportunities we consistently demonstrate what we regard as an obligation to give back [into the communities which make it possible for us to practice our trade so successfully].
Valparaiso University Kade-Dusenberg German House and Cultural Center
Tria Architecture, Inc.
1333
Burr Ridge Parkway, Suite 175
Burr Ridge, Illinois 60527
Architects@TriaArchitecture.com
Telephone: 630.455.4500
Fax: 630.455.4040
Tria Architecture was founded in 2004 as an Architectural planning and design firm dedicated to serving our clients with the right design solutions to meet their needs, desires, and budgets. Their staff's experience in a variety of building types within the Chicago area and throughout the United States allows Tria Architecture to better understand each client's needs, and provide design solutions on time and on budget, or in their own words...turning our client's dreams into reality.
Managed by three partners; James Petrakos, Thomas Szurgot, and Ronald McGrath, Tria Architecture is able to provide the utmost attention to both design and service for each of our clients. Tria is structured so that each partner leads a segment of the firm. James leads the firm's marketing efforts and oversees the satisfaction of each client. Thomas directs the financial aspects of the firm as well as managing projects. Ronald coordinates Tria's operations, manages projects, and provides support for the firm's technology resources.
In a recent interview with Tria Architecture's director of marketing, Chicago Architecture Today was able to gain some insights concerning their design philosophy and several prominent projects located throughout the Chicago area. The transcript of that conversation was as follows:
* * *
(CAT-Chicago Architecture Today)
CAT: What is your professional history in the Chicago area?
Jim: We’ve been doing business as a firm in the Chicago area since 2004, but the principals of Tria Architecture (3 total) have worked together since 1996. We originally worked together at a larger firm which specialized in educational and governmental projects.
Fire and Ice Bar & Grill
Orland Hills, IL
CAT: How many are currently on your staff?
Jim: Our current staff consists of the three principals and two recently hired interns.
CAT: Is there one or two categories of project-types Tria specializes in?
Jim: I would have to say that 80% of the scope of our work encompasses additions and renovations. Overall, the breakdown of our project commissions would be as follows:
30% Residential
25% Commercial/Office
15% Food/Entertainment
20% Educational/Governmental
10% Retail
CAT: Do you employ a design philosophy or signature principals of what you believe to be “good design”?
Jim: Service, Service, Service…. Meeting a client’s needs, on budget and on-time, is extremely important to Tria Architecture.
CAT: Identify a key element of the architect and client interchange at the onset of a working relationship?
Jim: A key maxim to us is “check your ego at the door.” [Its not uncommon] for clients to complain to us about some other firms by saying, ‘You’re the first firm to really listen to what our needs are and what type of budget we could afford to maximize the final design’. Our aim is to always work to meet and even exceed our clients’ expectations. We want to be able to present second and third design options which they may not have considered [but which would work well for their specific situation]. “We often find that our clients fall in love with the second or third options.”
Meadowview Elementary School Gymnasium Renovations
Country Club Hills, IL
CAT: Finish the following phrase: Architecturally, in a sub-division I can’t stand to see…?
Jim: Architects imposing their will [on a community], without understanding the surrounding context. We also understand that what we are critiquing may not be a true representation of the architect’s vision. We seek to gain a deeper understanding of today’s architectural landscape by recognizing that what is typically dreamed up on the drafting board or computer screen, is not always what actually is translated into the built environment. Many times value engineering takes precedence over design intent to a client.
CAT: How would you complete the following sentence: Schools need to better prepare students in…?
Jim: General building anatomy. How to put things together or understanding the sequence of construction.
CAT: What are some projects you are particularly proud of?
Jim: A recently completed municipal project of a 2000 seat outdoor amphitheater in the south suburban area of Country Club Hills. Also, the renovation of local School District 160’s gymnasium.
Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill
Chicago Office:
224 S. Michigan Avenue
Suite 1000
Chicago, IL 60604
toll free 866.296.2688
p 312.554.9090
f 312.360.4545
Formed in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings (John Merrill joined in 1939), SOM is one of the largest architectural firms in the United States. According to the firm’s profile, over the past sixty-five years, SOM has completed more than 10,000 architecture, engineering, interior architecture, and planning projects in more than 50 countries around the world. Therefore, this brief profile merely scratches the surface to all this architectural firm has accomplished.
SOM has offices in Chicago, New York, Hong Kong, Washington, D.C., London, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and San Francisco.
SOM is one of the first corporate firms, numbering over one thousand personnel and seldom giving one particular architect credit for a project. Nonetheless, many famous architects have worked for SOM, including Gordon Bunshaft (designed the Lever House), Flazur Khan (designed the Sears Tower), and Pietro Belluschi (Bank of America World Headquarters building in San Francisco).
SOM also finished the design for the John Hancock Center in Chicago in 1969.
Architectural Achievements
Concerning
super tall buildings, SOM pioneered the International style
and contributed greatly to high-end commercial buildings,
such as the Sears Tower, the John Hancock Center,
the Lever House, and more recently, the Freedom
Tower, the central building in to the new World Trade
Center complex set to be built in Manhattan.
Other achievements include the AOL Time Warner Center in New York City, which was completed in 2003, and the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai, which houses offices and a Hyatt Hotel.
Architectural projects currently in development include the
China World Trade Center which contains a complex of
several buildings, including a super-tall, the Trump
International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, to be
completed in 2008 and to be the tallest building project in
the United States since the Sears Tower, and the Burj
Dubai,
a mixed-use skyscraper whose ultra-sleek design was inspired by the native desert flower and layering of Islamic architecture.
Completed in 1965, the Richard J. Daley Center houses
courts and government offices. The thirty-one-story
structure contains more than 120 court and hearing
rooms, a law library, and office space. The building was
designed to accommodate change, such as shifting office
space to court area and vice versa.
Completed in 2004, the Skyscraper Museum, located in Battery Park City, New York City, celebrates over a century of skyscraper development. Even though the museum is built in a relatively small space, smart use of mirror polished stainless steel floors and ceilings create a sense of vertical infinity, while the ample window space provide the greatest display case: the cityscape.
Interior Architectural Achievements
In 2001,
SOM complete the interior design of the San Francisco
International Terminal, a 2.6 billion dollar endeavor
that contributes a roof structure that “adds to the
airport’s cohesiveness” and provides ample day lighting.
When designing the interior
for
the BankBoston Corporate Office Building (2003) in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, SOM integrated landscape features with
construction, adding a central garden. More recently, SOM
assisted Hines and General Motors as Master
Architect/Engineer for the renovation of the Renaissance
Center complex for General Motors. In 1996 SOM finished
giving the US Court of Appeals in San Francisco an
interior makeover, after the building built in 1905 suffered
considerable damages from a 1989 earthquake. The modern
facilities installed still managed to stay true to the
traditional interior.
Engineering Feats
Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum (1997) Bilbao posed a unique challenge to SOM’s structural engineers. To accommodate the entwining titanium shapes of the building’s exterior, the engineers created a modular lattice steel grid system that conform to all walls, regardless of size and shape. In 2005, SOM engineers finished the construction of underground expansions to the Field Museum in Chicago to provide needed space for the museum’s growing artifact collection.
Planning Accomplishments
SOM designed the master plan for 22 hectares of the downtown core of Ningbo, China. The master plan sought to connect the downtown area to an existing riverfront part and temple. In 2000 SOM completed the master plan for the Toledo Museum of Art. In 1991 SOM completed the master plan for downtown Newark, New Jersey. The plan sought to utilize the current urban hotspots and branch out these areas to surrounding neighborhoods.
Miscellaneous
In
2004 SOM won the City Lights Design Competition,
an initiative to modernize New York City’s streetlights.
Their design consists of a steel tube flattened and then
curved at the downwards toward the street.
Source: www.som.com
Joel Berman
President
Joel Berman Architecture & Design, Ltd.
5412 North Clark Street, Suite 210
Chicago, Illinois 60640
Telephone: 773.275.5968
Fax: 773.275.5141
One of
CAT: So what inspired you to go into this profession?
Joel: As a child my favorite toys were Erector Sets, building blocks, Tinker toys, and Play-Doh. I grew up next to a forest, and I would climb under the backyard fence and build tree forts, underground bunkers, and lean-to forts. I used to hand-stitch stuffed animals, and I loved to freehand sketch. Pursuing an architectural career was a natural progression.
CAT: What’s your
professional history in the
Joel: I graduated from U of I-Champaign-Urbana. My first job out of school was working for Altman-Saichek-Adams on single story retail buildings and movie theaters. Later I worked on the 1990’s renovation of Soldier Field for the World Cup, laboratories and pharmaceutical plants, the Northwestern Memorial Redevelopment Hospital, and assorted projects at North park University in Albany Park and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terra Haute, IN. I founded my practice in the spring of 2002, starting exclusively with house additions and single family homes; today my practice is 90% commercial and 10% residential; some representative projects include the Galleria, an Andersonville retail incubator, Pasticerria Natalina (5406 N. Clark), a Sicilian Bakery, Pharmacy (1450 W. Chicago), a bar and grille, and a 15,000 SF retail center in Lynwood, IL.
CAT: What is your design philosophy or “good design principles and practice?
-
Include your client directly in the design process; better yet, show them quick design ideas through freehand sketching.
-
Work with people you like.
-
Initiate positive collaboration with clients, contractors, and consulting engineers.
-
Strive for lean and consistent design and work process.
-
Map out your critical path.
I tend to be extremely functional and practical. I look to enhance my client’s best resources. For example, a retail client was time and cash-strapped but had the skills to build millwork himself. We worked together to design the perfect sized modular displays; the inserts were customized. My client was able to cut all of the display box component the same size and quickly assemble the fixtures, adding customized inserts after the store opened. Today my client builds and sells similar units to other businesses, including some of my more recent clients.
CAT: Finish the following: Schools need to better prepare students …?
Joel: …to be efficient? and collaborative and to think more about the big picture. Also, students must stop being told that the profession is hard, competitive and doesn’t pay well [which isn’t always true].
CAT: Are there any of your built projects which you are particularly proud of?
Joel:
CAT: Is there a
particular architectural style that dominates or is
signature of your buildings?
Joel: simple, practical, proportional, contextual and typically modern.
CAT: How many people do you employ?
Joel: Today I have one part time employee.
CAT: Primarily
operating in the Chicagoland area, besides business &
commerce variables, what do you derive from the
Joel: We are lucky to have the Burnham Plan in Chicago; our open lakefront, parks, dense residential corridors, and neighborhood commercial streets running every half mile create a fantastic canvas for architects. The vernacular framework guides my designs.
CAT: Are there any
design trends out there that you see as detrimental
to the Chicagoland landscape?
Joel: IN THE SUBURBS: Some of the inner ring suburbs have
compromised their physical continuity. Poor zoning leads to
ugly development and over-scaled houses that dominate
neighboring houses’ heights, rooflines, and front yard
setbacks.
IN
OTHER ISSUES: Very poor comprehensive regional planning,
resulting in inefficient highway interchange layouts and
increased commute times; gated subdivisions, which increase
traffic problems and tend to divide neighborhoods; houses on
huge lots, increasing energy consumption and excessive costs
of infrastructure; and lack of affordable housing.
Christopher Derrick
Derrick Designs Architecture
506 South Gables Blvd
Wheaton, IL 60187
Phone: 847.606.6460
Fax: 630.322.8494
