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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In conversation: Jason Keen
Visual Artist, Photographer Detroit, Michigan With an award-winning portfolio of work, Jason Keen is a Detroit, Michigan-based photographer who documents the built environment and has spent the last decade capturing the iconic design and architectural work of firms like Gensler, Stantec, Smithgroup, Olson Kundig, ROSSETTI, Mathison | Mathison, Moody Nolan, PLY+, Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects or LOHA, McIntosh Poris Associates, HOK, and INFORM Studio, to name a few, garnering recognition from a number of well-known outlets and renowned organizations. Great Lakes By Design Magazine recently had the opportunity to speak with him about what drew him to the field, his inspiration, and his work on capturing the space, light, and landscape…
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Merging of vision
Since their founding in 1991 and 2002, respectively, the firm of KTGY Architecture + Planning and the interior design group of Simeone Deary Design Group have built rich project and service portfolios based on their singular approaches to space and experiential design, and comprehensive work ethics that leave no detail unturned. KTGY is a primarily multi-family residential and mixed-use design firm that has worked in 44 states and operates seven offices across the country—garnering more than 600 awards along the way—while the Chicago-based Simeone Deary Design Group has taken its experiential interior design and brand positioning practice to luxury and boutique hospitality projects across country, from the Detroit Foundation Hotel…
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The urban home
In downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, the renovation of the third floor of a historic building transforms a vacant, open space into two individual residences for its owners. Featuring a collaborative design-and-build team, which includes two businesses local to Kalamazoo, Intersect Studio and Buday’s Home Electronics Simplified, the project comprises the restoration of the building while maintaining its charm, as well as tailoring each unit to meet the needs of its resident with the installation of innovative and modern technology. Intersect Studio is a design firm specializing in strategy, architecture, planning, interior design, and experiential branding in Kalamazoo. On this project, the company paired its services and worked alongside Buday’s Home Electronics…
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The people’s park
Of Chicago’s many parks, Jackson Park, with its perforations of lagoon, harbor, and world-renowned institutions like the Museum of Science and Industry and the nearby University of Chicago, and the adjacent South Shore park area and its on-site cultural center, are two of the city’s oldest and most culturally significant parks by many standards. Jackson Park, a Chicago Landmark, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition and it is a key piece of the city’s designed waterfront network, as is the South Shore, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Together, the parks now serve a diverse population of…
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Historic drive
In Harbor Springs, Michigan, an unassuming garage exterior holds a microcosm of active space within for a lifetime collection of automotive experience and memorabilia. Historic artifacts and refurbished cars from different eras in the automotive industry weave together a unique and personal account of its heritage. Inside, a lounge, office, curated showroom, garage, and workspace converge into a project that was as rewarding to complete as it was to design. In its surroundings, the approximately 5,000-square-foot garage is described as “urban camo” by its architect, Elaine Keiser, AIA, NCARB, of Elaine Keiser Architect Inc. in Petoskey Michigan. Keiser and her team have built a sweeping portfolio of retail and restaurant…
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Thread in transit
The multi-modal transit system is intended to support the urban core—not unlike a buttress to a wall—and the dynamic economic, cultural, and social activities that take place there. It interacts with the complex spatial structure of larger cities, ultimately becoming inherently entwined with the day-to-day operations and life in the diverse tapestry of its built landscape. In Chicago, the transit-intensive city has become not only multi-modal in nature, but also inter-modal as many of its residents, visitors, and working populations leverage more than one mode of transportation for a single journey—bicycle, pedestrian, bus, train, automotive, and waterway, to name a few. Perhaps its most iconic infrastructure though is known simply…
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Other such stories
Exhibitions in art and its many related fields often serve as a catalyst for new ideas, a shift in perception, and at times, recognizable change. It is frequently used as a forum in which to engage audiences and peers, to spark conversation and innovation, and to provide opportunities for emerging and established talent. There is a statement or question often posed, challenging, inspiring, and disrupting the routine. During the third edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, an international architecture and design exhibition held from September 19, 2019 through January 5, 2020 throughout downtown Chicago and its network of partners across the greater neighborhood area, that statement reflects upon social, geopolitical,…
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Expanded footprint
Founded in 2007 in Chicago’s residential Lakeview neighborhood, dSPACE Studio has become known for its striking, street-smart and sustainable custom residential projects, including urban dwellings and vacation homes. Alongside its distinctive contemporary aesthetic—often marked by generous glass enclosures, Earth tones, and intricately arranged forms—dSPACE is also adept at being multi-faceted, both in their designs that respond to client taste and locale, and the areas where the firm’s handiwork is found. The dSPACE portfolio spans the United States and dips into international regions, but for Founding Principal Kevin Toukoumidis, AIA, LEED, it is western Michigan’s pristine landscapes and breathable lot spaces that make some of the best settings for creating impactful…
