Why Architecture Matters

For more than a decade, Pulitzer Prize-winningChicago Tribunearchitecture critic Blair Kamin has been writing fiery, intelligent essays on the state of contemporary architecture. His subjects range from high-rises to highways, parks to public housing, Frank Lloyd Wright to Frank Gehry.Why Architecture Matterscollects the best of Kamin's acclaimed columns, offering both a look at America's foremost architectural city and a taste of Kamin's penetrating, witty style of critique.

Blair Kamin has been the architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune since 1992. He also is a contributing editor of Architectural Record. His work has been recognized with 20 professional awards, including such major honors as the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, the George Polk Award for Criticism and the American Institute of Architects' Institute Honor for Collaborative Achievement. Kamin also wrote the commentaries for Tribune Tower: American Landmark. He lives in a classic Chicago frame house with his wife, Chicago Tribune writer Barbara Mahany, and their son Willie.

PART ONE The Evolving Metropolis

1

(98)

The Mediocre Mile

3

(12)

The Mayor's Maypole: Boul Mich Pylon Plan Reason to Hoist Warning Flags

3

(3)

Twice Cursed: Rehabbed Marriott Is Miles and Miles from Magnificent

6

(4)

Faking History: Disney's Make-Believe Architecture Is Just What Michigan Avenue Doesn't Need

10

(5)

That Comeback Street

15

(16)

Stately Street: Retro Renovation Puts a Once-Great Shopping Mecca on the Road to Economic and Aesthetic Recovery

15

(6)

An Elevating Station: Avoiding the Tunnel Vision of the Past, the Airy Renovation of the State/Roosevelt Subway Stop Sets a Zesty Standard

21

(5)

Building a Better Block 37: Good Intentions Simply Aren't Enough for High-Stakes State Street Project

26

(5)

Public Works and the Public Realm

31

(16)

Updating the Dark Ages: Daley's Walled-Neighborhoods Plan Would Do Much to Hurt the City and Little to Stop Crime

32

(4)

The Bridges of Cook County: Design Enhances Engineering in Citywide Project

36

(7)

Triumphal Arches: Damen Avenue Bridge Is a Modern-Day Beauty

43

(4)

Making the Past a Part of the Future

47

(18)

Tumbling Legacy: Shortsighted Moves by the City Have the Potential to Send Architectural Gems Toppling Like Dominoes

48

(5)

Vertical Triumph: Reliance Building Restoration Is a Vote for Old Glory

53

(4)

Crumbling Icons: Some of Frank Lloyd Wright's Greatest Buildings Are Falling Apart, but the Bigger Question Is-What Can We Do to Save Them?

57

(8)

Suburbanizing the City

65

(20)

City-Escape: A New, Schlocky Brand of Architecture Promotes a Chicago that Never Was

66

(7)

Populist Playground: Navy Pier Has Shaped Up, but Aesthetics Have Been Shipped Out

73

(4)

The Sky Above, the Dud Below: Developer John Buck Is Skating on Thin Ice When He Compares His North Bridge Project to New York's Rockefeller Center

77

(8)

Urbanizing the Suburbs

85

(14)

Shopping for an Identity: Renovated Old Orchard Too Much at Once

86

(3)

Losing Yardage: City and Suburbs Worse Off When Homeowners Gobble Up Their Green Space

89

(4)

Suburban Skyline: Arlington Heights Fights Sprawl with Urban Innovations

93

(6)

PART TWO The Art of Architecture

99

(90)

Sizing Up the Skyscraper

101

(22)

Still Standing Tall: Plain and Simple, Hancock Rules

101

(4)

Reaching for the Sky: After Two Decades, Sears Comes Up Short

105

(5)

Bigger, but Better? New World's Tallest Design for 7 South Dearborn Leaves Room for Improvement

110

(4)

Inner Beauty: Stunning Atrium Offsets New Skyscraper's Public Face

114

(4)

Green Giant: Germany's Commerzbank Is a Breath of Fresh Air for Stale Skyscrapers

118

(5)

Unsung Heroes

123

(14)

The Man with the Plan: Revisiting Daniel H. Burnham, the Architect Who Bent Entire Cities to His Will

124

(4)

Masters of Understatement: Miesian Architects May Get No Respect, but Their Boldly Simple Style Suits Chicago to a T

128

(5)

Weese's Legacy: Historical Society's Exhibit Salutes a Consummate Maim of the City

133

(4)

Opportunities Lost (and Found) in Chicago

137

(18)

Doing the Wrong Thing Flawlessly: The Arts Club of Chicago Holds on to the Past Instead of Exploring the Future

138

(4)

A Fumbled Chance at Greatness: The Museum of Contemporary Art Tries but Fails to Extend Chicago's History of Design Triumphs

142

(3)

Structural Damage: Chicago Has Forfeited Its Title as the Nation's Architectural Capital

145

(5)

A Star Is Reborn: Underappreciated Adler Planetarium Rockets into the Future with Daring New Addition

150

(5)

Architecture with a Capital "A": Look Elsewhere

155

(21)

Monument to Memory: The Holocaust Memorial Museum Is a Searing Space of Pain and Healing

156

(4)

Star Attraction: The Hayden Sphere Has Landed and It's Friendly to Earthlings

160

(5)

Welcome to the Future: Frank Gehry's Stunning New Guggenheim Museum in Spain Is the First Great Building of the Next Century

165

(5)

Berlin's Leading Edge: Helmut Jahn's New Sony Center Helps Turn a Wasteland into a Thriving Urban Center that Draws Together East and West

170

(6)

Importing "Starchitects" 175

Koolhaas's IIT Campus Center: Success Will Be in the Details

176

(5)

Gehry's Chicago Band Shell: Outsider Art Is Catalyst for Creativity

181

(4)

Eisenman's Aronoff Center in Cincinnati: For a Design to Stand the Test of Time, the Building Must Do the Same

185

(4)

PART THREE Architecture as a 'Social Art'

189

(90)

Places and Catalysts for Gathering

191

(12)

Town Square I: Face Lift Improves Daley Plaza and Maintains Its Special Character

191

(3)

Town Square II: Folk Music School's New Home Strikes the Right Note

194

(4)

Moo-ving Tale: Cows Broke Down the Fences that Kept Us Apart

198

(5)

Raising and Razing Temples of Sport

203

(13)

Comiskey Park: New Neighbor Not Necessarily New Friend

204

(4)

The Stadium: The End Is Near for Chicago's Shrine

208

(4)

The United Center: Don't Take Me Out to the Mall Game

212

(4)

Building a Better Life

216

(14)

A Leap of Creativity: Old St. Pat's Is New Again

217

(4)

Where Learning's Fun by Design: Back of the Yards School Is a Neighborhood Beacon

221

(4)

Day-Care Package: Tigerman Leads the Way toward a Bootstrap Architecture that Gives Low-Income Kids a Leg Up

225

(5)

Private Housing: Building Boom, Architecture Bust

230

(9)

Strange Neighbors: Bright New Condos Add Vitality to the City-but Something about Them Is Just Not Right

231

(4)

Tall Building Comes Up Short: New Apartment Tower Is a Drag on the Skyline

235

(4)

Public Housing: Sheltered by Design

239

(40)

Housing that Works: Politicians and Bureaucrats Have Been the Real Architects of Public Housing, but It Doesn't Have to Be that Way

240

(10)

Urban Mosaic's Lost Piece: Creative Planners Have Discarded the "Tower-in-the-Park" Model that Disconnected Public Housing from Its Surroundings

250

(9)

Building a Sense of Security: Fences, Individual Front Doors, and Porches Create Safe Spaces that Can Free Residents from Being Virtual Prisoners of Drug Dealers and Prostitutes

259

(8)

Myth Must Be Exploded: Stereotyping Ignores Factors that Make High-Rises Livable Buildings or Monumental Eyesores

267

(12)

PART FOUR The Lakefront: Democratic Vistas

279

(86)

Putting the Car in Its Place

281

(16)

Gem in the Making: The New Museum Campus Is Chicago's Latest Lakefront Jewel, but It Still Needs a Little Polishing

281

(5)

Park Above, Parking Below: A Subterranean Garage Adds Excitement to a Museum and Green Space to the Lakefront

286

(5)

Beauty and the Beach: Three New Castles in the Sand Suit the Lakefront Perfectly

291

(6)

Reinventing the Lakefront

297

(68)

A Flawed Jewel: The Lakefront Needs Help, and the City of Chicago Has a Rare Chance to Remold It for the Twenty-first Century-but Where's the Vision?

298

(11)

The Great Divide: Carved by Racism, the Chasm between North and South Side Amenities Can Be Bridged, but It Will Take More than a Few Flowers

309

(11)

Grant Park's Double Life: Jammed and Raucous during Summer Festivals, Empty and Sleepy the Rest of the Year, Our Central Park Needs a Single, Vibrant Personality

320

(11)

A Landmark of Labor: As a Celebration of Industry, the Idled South Works Steel Plant Could Forge a New Link in the Chain of Waterfront Parks and Museums

331

(10)

Striking a Balance: Lincoln Park Is about to Add the Nature Museum to Its Already Full Plate, While the South Lakefront Hungers for Improvements

341

(11)

Big Canvas, Little Plans: Mayor Daley Could Be an Architect for the Shoreline, Not Just a Groundskeeper-and Now Is the Time to Act

352

(13)

Acknowledgments

365

(6)

Illustration Credits

371

(4)

Index

375

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Why Architecture Matters

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials