Architecture Adrenaline
Promoting Freedom for Creative Architecture
At 111 East. Wacker Drive, the Illinois Center garage serves as its designated parking facility! Offering up 866 spaces.
One Illinois Center, also known as 111 East Wacker and 233 North Michigan, is at the core of Sam Zell's efforts to revitalize downtown Chicago. Unfortunately, its construction was met with resistance.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect and educator renowned for defining Modernist architecture. After migrating to America in 1938 and setting up an architectural firm in Chicago, Mies designed numerous buildings for Chicago as well as serving as an instructor at Armor Institute.
One Illinois Center, also known as 111 East Wacker Drive was designed by Mies van der Rohe and completed by his local firm following his death. It's a steel and glass tower facing the river that is comprised of multiple floors housing offices from different government agencies.
The building features a base clad with pink and gray granite, intended to convey the nobility of government activity. On its upper levels are layers of glass allowing Mies to emphasize its structural framework while giving Mies room for artistic interpretation of structural features of his building - all designed to project optimism about government activity.
Chicago is an energetic city filled with rich history and numerous activities to do and see. Chicago provides something for everyone - sports enthusiasts, foodies, music enthusiasts or those residing in one of the many historic neighborhoods - all can find something enjoyable here.
Attractions such as the Art Institute of Chicago, Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum provide endless entertainment in Chicago. A center for business, commerce and finance with opportunities across various industries to find employment; City Colleges of Chicago offers pre-K to graduate school education options while Northwestern University provides Bachelor's, Master's and Doctorate degrees - there's always something going on here!
This 1:600 scale version of Daniel Burnham's 1909 plan to plan Chicago was built as an interactive and cinematic experience, featuring touch screens enabling visitors to orient themselves, search by architect or style, as well as see data like changing land use, construction projects, or train lines projected onto it.
Though stunning, the model caused considerable debate. Critics charged that its construction wasn't contextual to its surroundings and was more of an ego trip by an insecure architect who denigrated his city's international architectural legacy than anything else.
Questions such as contextuality or justifiability of construction costs for any structure should be carefully considered; however, mixing political wrangling with assessments on its aesthetic qualities would not have been Mies' intent in creating his vision of the State of Illinois Center; his goal was to produce something extraordinary which would stand out in an otherwise dull skyline.
Soaring skyscrapers, historic homes, awe-inspiring churches and luxurious hotels all stand as testaments to human creativity and environmental design. Unfortunately, however, their designers remain often unknown or hidden behind closed doors; that is something The Architecture Center intends to change.
From its home along the Chicago River, the Architecture Center encourages visitors to discover why design matters. Visitors can take one of 85 tours by foot, bike, boat and bus; or explore innovations in design at its exhibit galleries.
From Chicago's largest scale model of Chicago to supersized models (and views) of skyscrapers from around the world, galleries at the Architecture Center explore our diverse neighborhoods, housing styles and leading architects. In its 20,000-square-foot venue are shops, design studios and lecture halls; proceeds from admission fees, tours, Design Store sales and grants support the educational mission of this unique space.
