Portland Public Library

Terror and wonder, architecture in a tumultuous age, Blair Kamin

eng

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Terror and wonder

531718892

Blair Kamin

architecture in a tumultuous age

Collects the best of Kamin's writings for the Chicago Tribune from the past decade

The urban drama -- The building room -- The age of icons -- The changing faces of preservation and conservation -- A new era and new challenges1 The Urban Drama -- DISASTER -- RAISING UP A FALLEN SKY : The Best Way to Fill the Chilling Void in the Lower Manhattan Skyline Is with a Great New Urban Center, Not a Reproduction of the Destroyed Twin Towers -- DON'T ABANDON NEW ORLEANS : The Big Easy, an American Masterpiece, Deserves to Be Saved; Its Rebuilding Should Stress Substance over Show -- SECURITY -- LAND OF THE SORT-OF FREE : In a Nervous City, Places like the Federal Plaza Run Scared, While the Daley Plaza Hangs Tough -- FORT WASHINGTON : From the Heartland to the Capital, Federal Buildings Put on the Armor of a Nation under Siege -- HUBS OF FRUSTRATION: Airports-A Symbol of Our Freedom of Movement-Have Become Dehumanizing -- THE PROMISE AND PERILS OF REBUILDING -- A BRILLIANT TIGHTROPE WALK AT GROUND ZERO : One Plan for the World Trade Center Site Rises above the Rest -- TOWER OF BANAL : Latest Freedom Tower Design Erases Original Vision of Remembrance and Renewal -- RECLAIMING THE PUBLIC REALM -- A PEOPLE'S PARK FOR THE FUTURE : Why Millennium Park Has Instantly-and Interactively-Established Itself as Chicago's New Town Square -- THE MILLENNIUM PARK EFFECT : It Has Emerged as a Sparkling Example of How Big Cities Can Get Big Things Done -- 2 The Building Boom -- WRETCHED EXCESS -- MONUMENTS TO MEDIOCRITY : The Demands of Business Trump the Art of Architecture in a Surge of High-Rise Residential Construction -- ONCE GRAND, NOW BLAND : The Boom in Branch Banks Is Shortchanging the Character of Neighborhoods -- A MICKEY D'S ON STEROIDS : When Supersize Isn't Necessarily Better -- A GALLERY OF ROGUES : For Every Gem Produced by the Long-Running Building Boom, There Are Even More Clunkers -- GEMS AMID THE ROUGH -- A SPARKLING NEW HIGH-RISE : The Contemporaine, by Ralph Johnson, Heralds the Revival of Modernism -- PLEASANT DREAMS : Lighter-Than-Air Serta Headquarters Elevates the Ordinary -- WAVES OF CREATIVITY : The Aqua Tower, by Rising Star Jeanne Gang, Is One of Chicago's Boldest and Best New Skyscrapers -- DOES SUPERTALL MEAN SUPERB? -- THE DONALD'S DUD : Trump's Skyscraper, Shortened by the Post-9/11 Fear of Heights, Reaches Only for Mediocrity -- SCALING AESTHETIC HEIGHTS : The Fordham Spire Adapts to Our World in a Stunning New Way -- LET'S TWIST AGAIN : Third Time's the Charm for Chicago Spire-or Is It? -- HOW TO BUILD TODAY'S SUPERTALLS : Elegance, Not Machismo, Is behind Chicago's Unprecedented Reach for the Sky -- A SKYSCRAPER OF MANY FACES : In Trump's Context-Driven Chicago Skyscraper, Beauty Is in the Eye-and the Vantage Point-of the Beholder -- OVER THE TOP: The Burj Dubai, the New World's Tallest Building, Shows That Nothing Succeeds Like Excess -- 3 The Age of Icons -- CATHEDRALS OF CULTURE -- WINGED VICTORY : Santiago Calatrava Marries Sculpture and Structure, and Molds a New Identity for the Milwaukee Art Museum -- A MUSICAL ARK FOR LOS ANGELES : Frank Gehry's Spectacular Disney Hall Draws Energy from the City's Chaos and Steers It toward a New Vision of Community -- ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHS AND LOWS : Daniel Libeskind's Denver Art Museum Addition Is a Striking Urban Presence but Doesn't Soar as a Showcase -- BLADES OF GLASS : The New Spertus Institute and Its Gemlike Wall Form a Welcome Counterpoint to Chicago's Michigan Avenue Historic District -- FROM SPECTACULAR TO SUBTLE -- A BRIGHTER IDEA : Steven Holl's Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Redefines the Museum Addition -- TEMPLE OF LIGHT : Much More Than a Container for Art, Renzo Piano's Refined Modern Wing Opens to Nature and the City -- A SIDEWALK THROUGH THE SKY : With Nautical Flourish, the Nichols Bridgeway Connects the Modern Wing of the Art Institute to Millennium Park -- BIG STARS ON CAMPUS -- THE NEW SCHOOL OF COLLEGE DESIGN : Can Sexy, Signature Buildings Successfully Fuse Form and Function? -- TRIUMPHANT HOMECOMING : Helmut Jahn Designs an Illinois Institute of Technology Dorm That Looks Elegantly at Home -- STANDING OUT WHILE FITTING IN : Thom Mayne's Campus Recreation Center at the University of Cincinnati Is the Latest Piece of an Exemplary Puzzle -- 4 The Changing Faces of Preservation and Conservation -- NEW CHALLENGES FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION -- THE DANGER OF BECOMING SKIN-DEEP : Chicago Historic Buildings Become Shells as New Rules of Preservation Are Letting City's History Slip Away -- HEALING PROCESS : It's Unclear Whether Cook County Hospital Can or Should Be Saved, but There Hasn't Been a Full Airing of the Question -- WHY LOSING SOLDIER FIELD'S LANDMARK STATUS MATTERS : Uncle Sam Draws a Line, Saving Avant-Garde Architecture from Its Worst Excesses -- LOVE IT? HATE IT? OR BOTH? : An Architecture Critic Revisits the Building He Despised as a Student and Has a Revelation -- THIS MIES BUILDING AT IIT CAN GO : Squat Brick Structure Isn't the Architect's Best Work, and the Metra Expansion Merits Its Razing -- HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND GREEN ARCHITECTURE : Friends or Foes? -- THE BLOOMING OF GREEN ARCHITECTURE -- CHICAGO, MY KIND OF GREEN : The Windy City Presents a Snapshot of the Sustainability Movement's Strengths and Shortcomings -- STARTING FROM "NET ZERO" : First-of-Its-Kind Home in Chicago Will Produce as Much Energy as It Uses -- TEMPLE OF GREEN : In the Grand Rapids Art Museum, a Measured Approach to Design Reveals That Elegance and Environmentalism Are Not Incompatible -- 5 A New Era and New Challenges -- REIMAGINING REGIONS AND HOUSING -- GOING FORWARD : Planning for Chicago's Future Requires Burnham-Style Vision-and a Big Pair of Green-Tinted Glasses -- SHORTSIGHTED POLEMICS : The Ideological Catfights over Housing Threaten to Marginalize All of Architecture -- CHA POLISHES ITS ROUGH EDGES : Architect Dresses up the Dearborn Homes, Georgian Style, and Upgrades Living Spaces Inside -- BRICK BY BRICK : Born as a Horse Stable, the Brick Weave House Provides the Perfect Home for a Pair of Urbanite Gearheads -- THE BLESSINGS AND BURDENS OF INFRASTRUCTURE -- A GRANDER CANYON : The Rebuilt Wacker Drive Has Emerged Not Only Fixed, but Finer -- CHICAGO'S SECOND WATERFRONT : A New Stretch of River Walk Furthers the Dream of Turning a Once-Harsh Industrial Zone into a Prime Public Space -- NEW RANDOLPH STATION WORKS WITHIN ITS LIMITS : Renovated Transit Hub a Bright Spot in Daily Commute -- THE WAY WE MOVE-AND LIVE : America's Infrastructure Crisis Arrives on Chicago's Doorstep -- GOOD-BYE, ICONS; HELLO, INFRASTRUCTURE : Obama Inaugurates a New Era of Architecture -- BACK TO BASICS : President Obama's Infrastructure Plan Won't Match the Great New Deal Public Works Projects, but It Moves America in the Right Direction