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900-910 North Lake Shore

Buildings and structures completed in 1956Buildings and structures in ChicagoInternational style architecture in IllinoisLudwig Mies van der Rohe buildingsModernist architecture in Illinois

900 910 North Lake Shore are a pair of glass and steel buildings, perpendicular to one another, designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago. Completed in 1956, they marked the refinement of Mies' highrise building design concept. The buildings are built to a Modernist International style that was considered to be a departure from the dominant aesthetic at the time they were built, and even criticized as too minimal. The "glass houses" are more often appreciated for the views they offer of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago. The buildings were referred to as “giant mirrors for lake beauty”.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article 900-910 North Lake Shore (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

900-910 North Lake Shore
North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago Near North Side

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Wikipedia: 900-910 North Lake ShoreContinue reading on Wikipedia

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N 41.8996136 ° E -87.6197185 °
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North Lake Shore Drive 910
60611 Chicago, Near North Side
Illinois, United States
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860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments
860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments

860–880 Lake Shore Drive is a twin pair of glass-and-steel apartment towers on N. Lake Shore Drive along Lake Michigan in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. Construction began in 1949 and the project was completed in 1951. The towers were added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 28, 1980, and were designated as Chicago Landmarks on June 10, 1996. The 26-floor, 254-ft (82 m) tall towers were designed by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and dubbed the "Glass House" apartments. Construction was by the Chicago real estate developer Herbert Greenwald, and the Sumner S. Sollitt Company. The design principles were copied extensively and are now considered characteristic of the modern International Style as well as essential for the development of modern High-tech architecture. The towers were not entirely admired at the time they were built, yet they went on to be the prototype for steel and glass skyscrapers worldwide. Initially, it was difficult to acquire financing for the project, turned down by lenders like Baird & Warner, who considered the design scheme to be too extreme. 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments embody a Modernistic tone with their verticality, grids of steel and glass curtain walls (a hallmark of Mies' skyscrapers), and complete lack of ornamentation. Tenants had to accept the neutral gray curtains that were uniform throughout the buildings;no other curtains or blinds were permitted lest they mar the external appearance. Since Mies was a master of minimalist composition, his principle was "less is more" as it is demonstrated in his self-proclaimed "skin and bones" architecture.The structural engineer for the project was Georgia Louise Harris Brown, who was the first African American to receive an architecture degree from the University of Kansas, and the second African American woman to receive an architecture license in the United States.

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago

The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues. The museum's collection is composed of thousands of objects of Post-World War II visual art. The museum is run gallery-style, with individually curated exhibitions throughout the year. Each exhibition may be composed of temporary loans, pieces from their permanent collection, or a combination of the two.The museum has hosted several notable debut exhibitions including Frida Kahlo's first U.S. exhibition and Jeff Koons' first solo museum exhibition. Koons later presented an exhibit at the Museum that broke the museum's attendance record. The current record for the most attended exhibition is the 2017 exhibition of Takashi Murakami work. The museums collection, which includes Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Kara Walker, and Alexander Calder, contains historical samples of 1940s–1970s late surrealism, pop art, minimalism, and conceptual art; notable holdings 1980s postmodernism; as well as contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation, and related media. It also presents dance, theater, music, and multidisciplinary arts. The current location at 220 East Chicago Avenue is in the Streeterville neighborhood of the Near North Side community area. Josef Paul Kleihues designed the current building after the museum conducted a 12-month search, reviewing more than 200 nominations. The museum was initially located at 237 East Ontario Street, which was originally designed as a bakery. The current building is known for its signature staircase leading to an elevated ground floor, which has an atrium, the full glass-walled east and west façades giving a direct view of the city and Lake Michigan.