Prentiss Women’s Hospital has been around since 1974, designed by a famous Chicago architect named Bertrand Goldberg. I bet Bert did not figure that his building would not last forever – or even for a century when it was constructed. He is no longer alive and his building will soon be dead too, when it […]
Category: learn about architecture
Skyscraper Video Chicago-Style
This is a neat short animation showing five notable skyscrapers in Chicago. (Although we Chicagoans still think of the Willis Tower as the Sears Tower, we will let it go this time.) We especially like how the Marina Towers, also known as the Corn Cob Buildings – mmmmm mmmmm, just ready to be buttered up […]
The First Woman of Place
You probably have not heard of her – Louise Blanchard Bethune – was the first professional woman architect in the United States. Way back in 1881, Louise opened an architecture firm with her husband. She worked on many buildings – and not just small homes or interiors, but big industrial buildings and important structures like […]
Architect Barbie is Stylin’
Barbie has been changing over the years from a female doll with lots of clothes, cars and a dunebuggy to a full career woman. A couple of years ago, she became an architect, as Architect Barbie was developed. We are not sure if she went to architecture school to train, but atleast she has some […]
The Incredible Rolling Bridge
Hey, have you ever seen a bridge like this? It is not like a drawbridge that hinges on one side and is pulled up with chains, It is not like the bridges that span the Chicago River, which pivot on each side and open in the center…it is a truly rolling bridge. And it makes […]
How Did You Come Up with That?
Architect Frank Gehry is known for his outrageously different structures, like Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles. What makes this project interesting is that he did not see that design as one whole structure immediately. No, his team built over 82 models as they designed it. Yes 82. And then they used software to scan […]
Hey! I’m Taller than You
Chicago used to have the tallest building – the Sears Tower (now called the Willis Tower) and we were so proud of it. It was designed as a bundle of square tubes, each a different height, and it was a landmark for the Windy City. New York has always felt that way about the Empire […]
Hurry to the Top
A gigantic building is rising in Shanghai China. It is called the Shanghai Tower and it is 121 floors and 2,073 feet tall. It is not going to be the tallest in the world, but perhaps the greenest and tallest. Or is it tallest greenest. Whatever. We thought that the fact that it will have […]
What is an ARCH?
Click on this picture and you will see an arch being built. When you want to reach from one side of a structure to another you can use a straight line or an angle or a curve. A curved element that spans across a structure is an ARCH. This element also must support weight. Sometimes […]
Bilbo Baggins Balloon Pad
Sometimes it is funny to think about how different people spend their time. In this instance, an artist designed the home of Bilbo Baggins, from “The Hobbit” out of 2600 balloons. Jeremy Telford, the artist, lives in Utah, in what we suspect is a house NOT made of balloons. It does show that a space […]