Doubling Mies

Managing the legacy of art and architecture from the twentieth century modern movement has proven especially challenging for conservators, restorers, preservationists, and curators. Architects, like artists, enthusiastically embraced new materials

In 1953 Mies van der Rohe began work on a pair of twenty-eight story rental apartment towers that would eventually be constructed, with only minor modifications, on two different Chicago

Although the siting of the pair of towers differs at the two locations, the development of the towers was a single design project and many of the sketches and studies

Mies’ explorations of structure, materiality, and enclosure systems saw a remarkable advancement in the designs for the Commonwealth Promenade and Esplanade Apartments. The structural design utilizes a twenty-one foot square

It is, therefore, not surprising that the idea of retrofitting the enclosure systems at both Commonwealth and 900-910 Lake Shore Drive has been discussed and studied on several occasions. From

Retrofitting the enclosure system at Commonwealth Plaza presents the classic wicked problem (Rittel, Webber, 1973). The technical issues of weight, strength, support, stiffness, attachment intersect with the architectural issues of

The buildings’ curtain wall wraps both towers on all four sides with no differentiation between the four facades’ orientation, the north facing glass is tinted the same gray as the

At the time of construction, the buildings offered striking views eastward over the lake, to the north and west over the city and especially south over Lincoln Park. Although other

As described above, Mies’ shift of the curtain wall ten inches outboard of the structural system is intriguing but even more interesting in that he then fills the conceptual and

Spending significant time in either office or residential spaces suggests that there is a strong cognitive disconnect between architect’s obsession with transparency and users’ obsession with tempering the flood of

Various readings and impressions of Modern Architecture, of Mies’ work in particular, often decry cold, sterile, inhuman qualities. A more careful analysis of Mies’ buildings, especially those insights gained in-situ

Some of our significant architecture will simply be exempted from the calls for rehabilitation, renovation, updating, and upgrading. The importance of accessibility to their singular original situation will render discussions

As the work of maintaining an important pair of buildings in Mies’ oeuvre continues, evaluation of the cost and benefits of a more intensive intervention with the curtain wall at