Home to offices of the Illinois state government, the dazzling glass and steel structure of Thompson Center reinvented the government building typology. IIT State Street Village, Chicago (2003) Image: Courtesy of JAHN The decision was announced by Governor JB Pritzker, the nephew of Jay Pritzker (1922-99), who in 1979 founded Chicago-based Pritzker Prize, the highest honour in the field of architecture. The structure, barely 35-years-old, unique example of late 20th century American architecture, is now being threatened by demolition. On May 3, just five days before Jahn’s death, following years of negotiations, the state of Illinois, facing hundreds of millions of dollars in the building’s repair, began soliciting bids for its sale. Thompson Center, named so in honour of four-term Illinois Republican Governor, (1977-91) who was brave enough to get it built in 1985. Yet, the architect’s most memorable and easily most controversial project in the city is James R. The charismatic architect, christened by Newsweek “the Flash Gordon of Architecture,” was responsible for more distinguished buildings than any other contemporary master in Chicago – from Xerox Center (1980), Chicago Board of Trade Addition (1983), and United Airlines Terminal (1988) and CTA Station (1984), both at O’Hare International Airport, to Citigroup Center (1987), IIT State Street Village (2003), two buildings at University of Chicago South Campus – Chiller Plant (2010) and Joe and Rika Mansueto Library (2011), and many more. He urged everyday Illinoisans to go “in there to see it for themselves.Helmut Jahn, a German-American architect, who was responsible for some of the most iconic buildings in Chicago, his home for 55 years, and in cities across the globe, was killed last Saturday, May 8, when two vehicles struck his bicycle near his home in Campton Hills, a far western suburb of Chicago. “I think anyone who follows, or anyone who’s really tapped into, the architectural legacy of our city knows that or would probably say the same thing,” LaTrace said. There’s been a lot of discussion of the “technical flaws or issues with the building,” but technology has changed since the center was built, and Chicago is “never going to get a building like this again” downtown, LaTrace said. Thompson Center Historical Society, said Pritzker’s comment was “unfair.” LaTrace, a reporter who covers real estate and a founding member of the James R. Thompson Center fan club opposes sale: ‘Do we dare squander Chicago’s great architectural heritage?’Ī.J.Save the Thompson Center, says its architect.Roomy Loop fixer upper? Thompson Center on the market - ‘oversized, outdated and expensive to operate’.Helmut Jahn carried on Chicago’s legacy of architectural greatness.Renowned architect Helmut Jahn killed in bike crash near St. ![]() James Thompson, the driving political force behind the building’s construction, who died last year. State guidelines for the sale already require potential buyers to commit to naming at least a portion of their development in honor of the late former Gov. ![]() The future use of this site will be determined by the purchaser selected through the competitive RFP process, and the state is open to all proposals, including preserving the building or choosing other ways to honor Jahn’s vision and creativity.” Last year, Jahn issued his own plea to spare the Thompson center.Īsked if the state is considering adding a requirement to honor Jahn to their request for proposals, a spokeswoman for the state’s department of Central Management Services, which oversees state properties, said “not at this time.”Ī spokesperson for Pritzker did not answer a question about whether the governor would make such a request, saying only Pritzker “joins millions around the world in mourning the great loss of Helmut Jahn.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |