[Image: Famous buildings in Chicago, via the Chicago Architecture Foundation].
I’m in Chicago, wandering around the city for the first real time since I left six years ago, looking at a hundred thousand new brick-and-limestone private condo developments, crossing and recrossing the Chicago River on foot, staying in various hotels, visiting houses, checking out gigantic roof decks, writing up stories for work, attending dinners, feeling almost overwhelmingly nostalgic, giving a talk about BLDGBLOG, hanging out soon with this guy… but I’ll almost definitely be back in San Francisco before I have time to post again.
In the meantime, hello from Chicago!
When are you giving your talk about BLDGBLOG? And where?
via Where: I didn’t know that “children are being used as a baseball bat to silence opponents” who object to the new Children’s Museum that will block public access to Chicago’s marvelous lakefront: http://lynnbecker.com/repeat/chicagochildrensmusuem/ccm.htm
And your photo array of buildings reminds me of a recent Bleat by James Lileks in which he extols gargoyles over Modernism: http://www.lileks.com/bleats/archive/02/0802/080102.html#080702
Is Chicago Ballardian?!
Every new condo building that goes up drives a stake through my heart. One going up right now blocks the view from my high school of the beautiful Harold Washington library.
I second that. When and where is your talk?
Welcome back to the (best) city (in the world).
Have you heard of Seuthopolis?
http://www.sciencepunk.com/v5/2007/09/the-underwater-city-of-seuthopolis/
Congratulations on your second million, Geoff!
Amazing to see how fast your blog has been grown in content. I suppose the number of visitors keeps on track with that. Big bow.
Best regards from the Netherlands,
Michiel van Raaij
I grew up in chicago. Left in 1998, and a lot of the new developments are, well, disheartening. Big McMansions going up in beautiful residential neighborhoods, for one. A lot of classic architecture and planning getting paved over…still plenty of great buildings, though!
Thanks, Michiel – the 2-millionth visitor came sometime on Friday, I think.
And, davesgonechina, I saw the Seuthopolis post on Pruned when it was up – in fact, I linked it in my Quick Links list.
Meanwhile, alas, the BLDGBLOG talk was Thursday night and at a private event in the Loop. But I should be back in Chicago, at the very least, by next fall; it looks like I, and BLDGBLOG, will be involved in the 2008 Chicago Humanities Festival…
If you are back in Chicago let me know. My work was in the Architecture Film Festival with my twin brother. Here is our site if you want to check it out http://www.spatialinterventions.com
-Michael Fleming