Chicago In Parts - Part 3

Garfield Park Conservatory

An oasis within snow-covered Chicago, the Garfield Park Conservatory was one of the most impressive places I visited on my trip. There are several rooms, such as the one pictured above, made entirely of glass and metal, and each containing a unique ecosystem. There is a room with a desert, another with spring flowers, another with tropical fruit trees. Stepping from below freezing slush covered street and into a humid rain forest is a truly remarkable experience. Hopefully the multitude of imagery collected from this visit will find its way into my upcoming designs.

 IIT McCormick Tribune Campus Center by OMA

With my friend and I both having acquired degrees in architecture, there was a great deal of architectural nerding-out that took place. Chicago's architecture is extremely diversified. The city seems to have long held a high regard for the relationship of meaningful architecture within a dense industrial context. This relationship has resulted in an impressive architectural conglomerate. Above are photos from our visit to Illinois Institute of Technology's campus. Rem Koolhaus's design of the student recreation center is truly impactful. While the structure, spanning a section of the campus beneath the elevated rail line, has a strong exterior presence, it is the detail of the interior that really holds the impact. Above is an example of the greater effect, the warm glowing hallway that readjusts your eyes color perception, and when you walk up to the window you notice the above detail. The use of this honeycomb patterning within the window pane creates an interactive movement between the reflection of the sunlight and the location of the inhabitant. The circular streak shone above is the reflection of the sun on the window plane, this circle would move with you as you walked down the hall, while also growing and shrinking in diameter depending on your distance from the surface. The care given to detail and experience is remarkable, while the overall gesture is bold and distinctive.