As I write this blog post late in the night with a window out to the city I can see all the layers of of the Chicago skyline. Each of these buildings give a glimpse to the past as to the style and mindsets of the people living and designing in the city. I can see the modern skyscrapers like the blue cross blue shield building. Its towering blue structure showing a modern office space and is lit up to support a cure for Huntington’s Disease. Then right behind it is the Aqua building.
It is currently one of my favorite buildings in Chicago and shows a bright creative future for the the Chicago skyline. Everything about the Aqua is creative and well thought through. It gives me something to strive for when designing, it is a building that shows that attention to detail can be beautiful. With its curved balconies it gives a organic look and blocks the wind. The best part is with the wind blocked it saves on the cost of cross bracing for the wind, truly a triple threat idea that inspires me to think outside the box.
I continue to look out of this amazing view from this Roosevelt university dorm and see all of beautiful skyscrapers of the past. Not even a block from this window I can see the Chicago Architecture Foundation Building inside what was the Old Santa Fe building. A Great example of the beaux-arts style of architecture. I really love the fact that everything I am learning in this class is visible in the city. Just today we visited a Greek revival style home called the Clarke House which is the oldest home in Chicago. It had amazing classical architecture that gave you a glimpse of the culture of the 1800s.
Then another home right next to the The Clark House which was designed by H.H.Richardson who was the creator of the Richardsonian style of design. You must have done some unique stuff to have a style of design named after you. I mean the castle like home that he built reminds the visitors of a roman building mixed with medieval castles and is nothing like anything we have seen.
Even with all of the unique rock and crazy architecture it still fit in the neighborhood without looking too godly. I still think that having all of these amazing examples all around you really puts everything in perspective. You can see through each wave of new building designs how they influenced each other and how they were a expression of the lifestyles at the time. They showed how some presented their wealth in the day and how they used houses in the past. Different customs that have been lost to time show up in the design of the homes such as greeting rooms for callers to enter in. Also the separation between the servants and the home owners is extremely apparent in some homes especially the farther back in a homes past you go. I would have never even have thought about the customs of the home owners at the time or how they would have thought. I now realize how big of a factor the customs of the time weigh into the decisions of architects when developing a home. It really is a place for living and working so it makes sense that it should reflect the values of the age. I believe that without this class I would have not have come to this conclusion.
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