“Our mission statement is to build better lives for our clients and our employees. I think the construction industry as a whole is uniquely positioned and I think our segment of the market is different in that we don’t build speculatively, we don’t go buy land and make you build with us, we are very much custom and clients choose us for that reason. While we deal with sticks and bricks and we build beautiful things, there is a level of service and design that is truly custom to each of our clients and to be chosen for that is really important,” said Lisa Pickell, president of Orren Pickell Building…
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Design language
In the renovation of this Lincoln Park House in Chicago, Illinois, the intentional composition of light, texture, and material is an ode to the contemporary, where understated elegance and playful undertones breathe character and life in a series of curated moments. It reflects a design language distinctive to its homeowners, defining lifestyle and taste, while highlighting existing interior architectural vernacular in respectful homage. The original three-story skylight and refinished maple wood floors speak to the home’s identity, while custom-designed details like the fireplace, new wine room, and rich accents, wallcoverings, and patterns tell a new narrative. To reimagine the roughly 4,400-square-foot, four-story space, the homeowners looked to the design expertise…
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The boardwalk connection
“I look at design as a creation of how humans interpret the natural world. I think there is this connection between the natural world and the built environment, and it is up to us—those in the design field—to interpret what that is, and to create our own values on how we intersect the natural world and the built environment,” said Ernest C. Wong, PLA, FASLA, APA, founding principal and president of site design group, ltd. “I think the general public takes design for granted. They go to places—the parks we design—and say ‘oh, it was just here.’ Nobody really thinks about the effort it takes to design this space. They…
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En Masse
Set amid a row of iconic Greystone buildings along California Ave. in Chicago, Illinois, the grid-like façade of concrete and glass on the En Masse Architecture and Design Ltd. studio presents a bold juxtaposition with its environment at first glance. Its poured-in place, brise-soleil creates a patterned effect where vertical fins of concrete lend an added layer of complexity to the grey-hued limestone of the historic residential building style inherent to Chicago, and bring an energy and dynamic tension to the creative conversation within its architectural landscape. Minimalist in design, the studio is more than a composition of its brise-soleil—an architectural solution popularized and initially designed for climatic challenges by…
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Refractory
For Refractory’s inaugural body of work and inception—forged at a moment of unprecedented change—its muse sings of a reverence for a frontier unbridled by time, when mountains were new, sandstone buttes clustered, continents drifted, and oceans receded. It speaks of mountain ranges, canyons, basins, and plateaus, shaped by deep-rooted geologic pressures and carved by powerful movements of rivers and wind. It gestures to the fire of transformation, the resilience of form and creature, the presence of materiality, and the harsh grace of natural forces. It embraces the rugged honesty of erosion, the celebration of unusual moments of irreverence, and a dedication to craft as integral to design—set in a region…
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Design Your World returns to Chicago
In 2021, the International Interior Design Association launched an educational initiative in partnership with Chicago-based After School Matters to create early exposure and opportunities in interior design and architecture fields for a diverse group of high school students. The program, known as Design Your World, not only introduced students to the history and practice of commercial interior design, but also provided hands-on design learning and education on process, sustainability, ergonomics, materials, and business practices. This year, in the wake of its successful launch last summer, Design Your World in Chicago, or Chicago DYW, is returning for a second session in July 2022 in continued partnership with After School Matters, or…
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Humboldt GMT
Designed for the everyday adventurer, the Humboldt GMT is the latest release in Oak & Oscar LLC’s line of Humboldt watches. Its slick design, highly adjustable bracelet, and advanced technology makes this watch a fit for multiple lifestyles and settings. An elevated take on the Humboldt 12-hour, this watch features a GMT complication and 24-hour bezel, allowing its user to keep track of three time zones at once. Incorporating a new anti-shock and anti-magnetic enclosure, and internal systems like a Faraday cage and rubber stabilizer, the Humboldt GMT is designed to neutralize the electromagnetic fields people regularly encounter, as well as reduce the rate of impact and rebound from bumps…
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RNDD to host Pup Crawl & Cat Walk
In partnership with PAWS Chicago, the River North Design District of Chicago, or RNDD, will host the River North Pup Crawl & Cat Walk on April 1, 2022. From 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. CT, an auction of pet items created by nine different designers will be on display throughout the nine showrooms participating in the walk. Guests of the event can bid on the various dog beds, pet clothes, cat condos, and other unique items for their furry friends, with 100 percent of the auction proceeds benefitting PAWS Chicago. PAWS Chicago will also have animals available for adoption inside the event spaces. Committed to bringing an end to the killing…
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Great Lakes By Design: Ergonomics
CONTENTS DESIGN CORNER 16 Pergola | the freestanding architectural workspace solution that also functions as an office space divider by Haworth Inc. 19 Prospect | the one-of-a-kind coffee table featuring the unique shapes and grain patterns of harvested Ash trees presented by Room & Board Inc. DESIGN SPOTLIGHT 22 Elevated design | the innovative company leveraging its elevator interiors to create workspace design solutions for the modern office environment 32 The Caterpillar | the multi-unit residential project redefining urbanism and development through the innovative use of material and intentional use of space, light, and landscape FORM 44 Art work | the penthouse designed by dSPACE Studio Ltd. and PROjECT. Interiors Inc. is a dramatic composition of art, design,…
