Built at the intersection of W. Fulton Street and N. Halsted Street, 800 Fulton Market is an intentional composition of materiality, form, and function, where architectural expression is informed by the grit, the resilience, and the innovation of an industrial past and vibrant future. Its three-story podium, from which the 19-story, mixed-use office building rises, is inspired by the rhythm and scale of its neighborhood, blurring temporal and physical lines of the historic and existing low-rise streetscape to higher-density commercial districts nearby. The offset core and series of landscaped terraces, triangular in form, are set back from its ground-level footprint, softening its presence at the Fulton Market District Gateway and…
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In contemporary-modern exhibition
In a renovated, bowstring truss building in Skokie, Illinois, a joint venture between (northern) Western Exhibitions and WHO Modern officially opened its doors this past weekend to celebrate the launch of its shared space featuring contemporary art, midcentury modern design, vintage furniture, and decorative objects. The opening event, which took place on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, celebrated the work of Geoffrey Todd Smith, a Chicago-based artist, and marked the debut of a new community destination initially envisioned by long-time Skokie-resident, Zach Williams, collector and building owner. The creative brainchild of Williams, the space brings together iconic designs and contemporary artwork by artists from Western Exhibitions’ 20-year-long history, and is backed…
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New space to thrive
Ghafari Associates LLC, a global architecture and engineering firm, announced Nov. 3, 2022 it will hold an official grand opening of its new space in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. The private event is a celebration of the newly renovated 8,500-square-foot office space overlooking Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids, featuring design inspiration from the firm’s recent hospitality projects. Tom Tooley, AIA, executive vice president of Ghafari Associates in Grand Rapids, noted creating a functional and inspirational environment for staff to work collaboratively in the space and between offices was one of the main goals of the project. “The incorporated advanced technology to work across offices…
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Island oasis
Landscape, as a design practice and as a research field, is a rich and complex discipline with the powerful potential to influence the human experience and its relationship with the surrounding environment. It can serve as a catalyst, inspiring innovative strategies and solutions to address social, economic, environmental, and health issues, where landscapes—urban, rural, coastal, wooded, and agrarian—are brought to the center of the conversation. It is inherent to the human condition to often be drawn to landscape and contemplate its connection with and to daily life, which the recent pandemic in many ways reinforced the value of living with the land and immediate exterior spaces rather than separate from…
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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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Work culture designed
For more than 30 years, Farmington Hills, Michigan-based design firm Davis & Davis has been transforming interior spaces with a foundational belief in the compelling and persuasive power of design. Since its founding by Michelle Davis and Howard Davis in 1990, the firm has refined its portfolio and design process by engaging clients in their own design programming, taking care to emphasize the unique narratives of each client, no matter their industrial identity. “This results in innovative space planning, optimized function, and an enhanced team experience that gives employees a sense of ownership and autonomy, while also supporting collaboration, innovation, and productivity,” said Michelle Davis, principal and design director of…
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Rustic-modern retreat
Overlooking Long Lake in Traverse City, Michigan, a home originally built in the mid-1990s was recently transformed into a rustic-modern, home-away-from-home for a couple and their growing family, a remodel designed by New Leaf Interiors of Traverse City. An interior design studio founded in 2010 by Gretchen Knoblock, owner and design director, New Leaf Interiors works toward helping clients realize their dream spaces, utilizing in-house capabilities such as kitchen and bath cabinetry selections, an array of finish options, and many furniture and home accessories lines. The firm’s services also include space planning assistance and visual representation of a client’s vision through sketches, the creation of concept boards, CAD drawings, and…
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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…
