architecture in a tumultuous age Kamin, Blair. creator text ilu 2010 monographic eng

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xxiv, 291 p. ill. ; 24 cm. For nearly twenty years now, Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune has explored how architecture captures our imagination and engages our deepest emotions. A winner of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism and writer of the widely read Cityscapes blog, Kamin treats his subjects not only as works of art but also as symbols of the cultural and political forces that inspire them. Terror and Wonder gathers the best of Kamin's writings from the past decade along with new reflections on an era framed by the destruction of the World Trade Center and the opening of the world's tallest skyscraper. Assessing ordinary commercial structures as well as head-turning designs by some of the world's leading architects, Kamin paints a sweeping but finely textured portrait of a tumultuous age torn between the conflicting mandates of architectural spectacle and sustainability. For Kamin, the story of our built environment over the past ten years is, in tangible ways, the story of the decade itself. Terror and Wonder considers how architecture has been central to the main events and crosscurrents in American life since 2001: the devastating and debilitating consequences of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina; the real estate boom and bust; the use of over-the-top cultural designs as engines of civic renewal; new challenges in saving old buildings; the unlikely rise of energy-saving, green architecture; and growing concern over our nation's crumbling infrastructure. 1 The Urban Drama -- DISASTER -- RAISING UP A FALLEN SKY : The Best Way to Fill the Chilling Void in the Lower Manhattan Skyline Is with a Great New Urban Center, Not a Reproduction of the Destroyed Twin Towers -- DON'T ABANDON NEW ORLEANS : The Big Easy, an American Masterpiece, Deserves to Be Saved; Its Rebuilding Should Stress Substance over Show -- SECURITY -- LAND OF THE SORT-OF FREE : In a Nervous City, Places like the Federal Plaza Run Scared, While the Daley Plaza Hangs Tough -- FORT WASHINGTON : From the Heartland to the Capital, Federal Buildings Put on the Armor of a Nation under Siege -- HUBS OF FRUSTRATION: Airports-A Symbol of Our Freedom of Movement-Have Become Dehumanizing -- THE PROMISE AND PERILS OF REBUILDING -- A BRILLIANT TIGHTROPE WALK AT GROUND ZERO : One Plan for the World Trade Center Site Rises above the Rest -- TOWER OF BANAL : Latest Freedom Tower Design Erases Original Vision of Remembrance and Renewal -- RECLAIMING THE PUBLIC REALM -- A PEOPLE'S PARK FOR THE FUTURE : Why Millennium Park Has Instantly-and Interactively-Established Itself as Chicago's New Town Square -- THE MILLENNIUM PARK EFFECT : It Has Emerged as a Sparkling Example of How Big Cities Can Get Big Things Done -- 2 The Building Boom -- WRETCHED EXCESS -- MONUMENTS TO MEDIOCRITY : The Demands of Business Trump the Art of Architecture in a Surge of High-Rise Residential Construction -- ONCE GRAND, NOW BLAND : The Boom in Branch Banks Is Shortchanging the Character of Neighborhoods -- A MICKEY D'S ON STEROIDS : When Supersize Isn't Necessarily Better -- A GALLERY OF ROGUES : For Every Gem Produced by the Long-Running Building Boom, There Are Even More Clunkers -- GEMS AMID THE ROUGH -- A SPARKLING NEW HIGH-RISE : The Contemporaine, by Ralph Johnson, Heralds the Revival of Modernism -- PLEASANT DREAMS : Lighter-Than-Air Serta Headquarters Elevates the Ordinary -- WAVES OF CREATIVITY : The Aqua Tower, by Rising Star Jeanne Gang, Is One of Chicago's Boldest and Best New Skyscrapers -- DOES SUPERTALL MEAN SUPERB? -- THE DONALD'S DUD : Trump's Skyscraper, Shortened by the Post-9/11 Fear of Heights, Reaches Only for Mediocrity -- SCALING AESTHETIC HEIGHTS : The Fordham Spire Adapts to Our World in a Stunning New Way -- LET'S TWIST AGAIN : Third Time's the Charm for Chicago Spire-or Is It? -- HOW TO BUILD TODAY'S SUPERTALLS : Elegance, Not Machismo, Is behind Chicago's Unprecedented Reach for the Sky -- A SKYSCRAPER OF MANY FACES : In Trump's Context-Driven Chicago Skyscraper, Beauty Is in the Eye-and the Vantage Point-of the Beholder -- OVER THE TOP: The Burj Dubai, the New World's Tallest Building, Shows That Nothing Succeeds Like Excess -- 3 The Age of Icons -- CATHEDRALS OF CULTURE -- WINGED VICTORY : Santiago Calatrava Marries Sculpture and Structure, and Molds a New Identity for the Milwaukee Art Museum -- A MUSICAL ARK FOR LOS ANGELES : Frank Gehry's Spectacular Disney Hall Draws Energy from the City's Chaos and Steers It toward a New Vision of Community -- ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGHS AND LOWS : Daniel Libeskind's Denver Art Museum Addition Is a Striking Urban Presence but Doesn't Soar as a Showcase -- BLADES OF GLASS : The New Spertus Institute and Its Gemlike Wall Form a Welcome Counterpoint to Chicago's Michigan Avenue Historic District -- FROM SPECTACULAR TO SUBTLE -- A BRIGHTER IDEA : Steven Holl's Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City Redefines the Museum Addition -- TEMPLE OF LIGHT : Much More Than a Container for Art, Renzo Piano's Refined Modern Wing Opens to Nature and the City -- A SIDEWALK THROUGH THE SKY : With Nautical Flourish, the Nichols Bridgeway Connects the Modern Wing of the Art Institute to Millennium Park -- BIG STARS ON CAMPUS -- THE NEW SCHOOL OF COLLEGE DESIGN : Can Sexy, Signature Buildings Successfully Fuse Form and Function? -- TRIUMPHANT HOMECOMING : Helmut Jahn Designs an Illinois Institute of Technology Dorm That Looks Elegantly at Home -- STANDING OUT WHILE FITTING IN : Thom Mayne's Campus Recreation Center at the University of Cincinnati Is the Latest Piece of an Exemplary Puzzle -- 4 The Changing Faces of Preservation and Conservation -- NEW CHALLENGES FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION -- THE DANGER OF BECOMING SKIN-DEEP : Chicago Historic Buildings Become Shells as New Rules of Preservation Are Letting City's History Slip Away -- HEALING PROCESS : It's Unclear Whether Cook County Hospital Can or Should Be Saved, but There Hasn't Been a Full Airing of the Question -- WHY LOSING SOLDIER FIELD'S LANDMARK STATUS MATTERS : Uncle Sam Draws a Line, Saving Avant-Garde Architecture from Its Worst Excesses -- LOVE IT? HATE IT? OR BOTH? : An Architecture Critic Revisits the Building He Despised as a Student and Has a Revelation -- THIS MIES BUILDING AT IIT CAN GO : Squat Brick Structure Isn't the Architect's Best Work, and the Metra Expansion Merits Its Razing -- HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND GREEN ARCHITECTURE : Friends or Foes? -- THE BLOOMING OF GREEN ARCHITECTURE -- CHICAGO, MY KIND OF GREEN : The Windy City Presents a Snapshot of the Sustainability Movement's Strengths and Shortcomings -- STARTING FROM "NET ZERO" : First-of-Its-Kind Home in Chicago Will Produce as Much Energy as It Uses -- TEMPLE OF GREEN : In the Grand Rapids Art Museum, a Measured Approach to Design Reveals That Elegance and Environmentalism Are Not Incompatible -- 5 A New Era and New Challenges -- REIMAGINING REGIONS AND HOUSING -- GOING FORWARD : Planning for Chicago's Future Requires Burnham-Style Vision-and a Big Pair of Green-Tinted Glasses -- SHORTSIGHTED POLEMICS : The Ideological Catfights over Housing Threaten to Marginalize All of Architecture -- CHA POLISHES ITS ROUGH EDGES : Architect Dresses up the Dearborn Homes, Georgian Style, and Upgrades Living Spaces Inside -- BRICK BY BRICK : Born as a Horse Stable, the Brick Weave House Provides the Perfect Home for a Pair of Urbanite Gearheads -- THE BLESSINGS AND BURDENS OF INFRASTRUCTURE -- A GRANDER CANYON : The Rebuilt Wacker Drive Has Emerged Not Only Fixed, but Finer -- CHICAGO'S SECOND WATERFRONT : A New Stretch of River Walk Furthers the Dream of Turning a Once-Harsh Industrial Zone into a Prime Public Space -- NEW RANDOLPH STATION WORKS WITHIN ITS LIMITS : Renovated Transit Hub a Bright Spot in Daily Commute -- THE WAY WE MOVE-AND LIVE : America's Infrastructure Crisis Arrives on Chicago's Doorstep -- HIGH HOPES AND SOBERING REALITIES -- GOOD-BYE, ICONS; HELLO, INFRASTRUCTURE : Obama Inaugurates a New Era of Architecture -- BACK TO BASICS : Obama's Infrastructure Plan Won't Match the Great New Deal Public Works, but It Moves America in the Right Direction -- Acknowledgments -- Illustration Credits -- Index -- Blair Kamin. Include index Architecture United States History 21st century City planning United States History 21st century Architecture Illinois Chicago History 21st century City planning illinois Chicago History 21st century NA712.7 K36 2010 724.7 9780226423111 0226423115 pucpr 032111 20220429164820.0 eng