Exploring a new century of architecture in the Windy City Chicago's wealth of architectural treasures makes it one of the world's majestic cityscapes. Published in collaboration with the Chicago Architecture Center, this easy-to-use guide invites you to discover the new era of twenty-first-century architecture in the Windy City via two hundred architecturally significant buildings and spaces in the city and suburbs. Features include: Entries organized by neighborhood Maps with easy-to-locate landmarks and mass transit options Background on each entry, including the design architect, name and address, description, and other essential information Sidebars on additional sites and projects A detailed supplemental section with a glossary, selected bibliography, and indexes by architect, building name, and building type Up-to-date and illustrated with almost four hundred color photos, the Guide to Chicago's Twenty-First-Century Architecture takes travelers and locals on a journey into an ever-changing architectural mecca.
In this volume the authors tell the real stories of the planners, politicians, and everyday people who shaped contemporary Chicago, starting in 1958, early in the Richard J. Daley era. Over the ensuing decades, planning did much to develop the Loop, protect Chicago’s famous lakefront, and encourage industrial growth and neighborhood development in the face of national trends that savaged other cities. But planning also failed some of Chicago’s communities and did too little for others. The Second City is no longer defined by its past and its myths but by the nature of its emerging postindustrial future. This volume looks beyond Burnham’s giant shadow to see the sprawl and scramble of a city always on the make. This isn’t the way other history books tell the story. But it’s the Chicago way.
Chicago’s architecture attracts visitors from around the globe. The fourth edition of the AIA Guide to Chicago is the best portable resource for exploring this most breathtaking and dynamic of cityscapes. The editors offer entries on new destinations like the Riverwalk, the St. Regis Chicago, and The 606 as well as updated descriptions of Willis Tower and other refreshed landmarks. Thirty-four maps and over 500 photos make it easy to find each of the almost 2000 featured sites. A special insert, new to this edition, showcases the variety of Chicago architecture with over 80 full-color images arranged chronologically. A comprehensive index organizes entries by name and architect. Sumptuously detailed and user friendly, the AIA Guide to Chicago encourages travelers and residents alike to explore the many diverse neighborhoods of one of the world’s great architectural destinations.
Of the thirty miles of Lake Michigan shoreline within the city limits of Chicago, twenty-four miles is public park land. The crown jewels of its park system, the lakefront parks bewitch natives and visitors alike with their brisk winds, shady trees, sandy beaches, and rolling waves. Like most good things, the protection of the lakefront parks didn't come easy, and this book chronicles the hard-fought and never-ending battles Chicago citizens have waged to keep them "forever open, clear, and free." Illustrated with historic and contemporary photographs, Wille's book tells how Chicago's lakefront has survived a century of development. The story serves as a warning to anyone who thinks the struggle for the lakefront is over, or who takes for granted the beauty of its public beaches and parks. "A thoroughly fascinating and well-documented narrative which draws the reader into the sights, smells and sounds of Chicago's story. . . . Everyone who cares about the development of land and its conservation will benefit from reading Miss Wille's book."—Daniel J. Shannon, Architectural Forum "Not only good reading, it is also a splendid example of how to equip concerned citizens for their necessary participation in the politics of planning and a more livable environment."—Library Journal
It's time for America to move beyond zoning, argues city planner M. Nolan Gray in Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It. With lively explanations, Gray shows why zoning abolition is a necessary--if not sufficient--condition for building more affordable, vibrant, equitable, and sustainable cities. Gray lays the groundwork for this ambitious cause by clearing up common misconceptions about how American cities regulate growth and examining four contemporary critiques of zoning (its role in increasing housing costs, restricting growth in our most productive cities, institutionalizing racial and economic segregation, and mandating sprawl). He sets out some of the efforts currently underway to reform zoning and charts how land-use regulation might work in the post-zoning American city. Arbitrary Lines is an invitation to rethink the rules that will continue to shape American life--where we may live or work, who we may encounter, how we may travel. If the task seems daunting, the good news is that we have nowhere to go but up
While many authors have written about what urban plans should contain and how they should be used, this comprehensive book leads you step by step through the entire plan preparation process. Citing examples from across the country, Larz Anderson shows how to prepare, review, adopt, and implement urban plans. He explains how to identify public needs and desires, analyze existing problems and opportunities, and augment long-range general plans with short-range district and function plans. Anderson presents these guidelines as tasks. For each task, he explains the rationale behind it, recommends a procedure for completing it, and identifies the expected results. Throughout, Anderson encourages improvisation — he urges planners to adapt the guidelines to meet local needs. Excerpts from recently adopted general plans illustrate Anderson's points and provide examples of variations even within his recommendations. A related glossary gives comprehensive definitions to words that, though not technical, have meanings specific to the urban plan.
Why are American cities, suburbs, and towns so distinct? Compared to European cities, those in the United States are characterized by lower densities and greater distances; neat, geometric layouts; an abundance of green space; a greater level of social segregation reflected in space; and—perhaps most noticeably—a greater share of individual, single-family detached housing. In Zoned in the USA, Sonia A. Hirt argues that zoning laws are among the important but understudied reasons for the cross-continental differences.Hirt shows that rather than being imported from Europe, U.S. municipal zoning law was in fact an institution that quickly developed its own, distinctly American profile. A distinct spatial culture of individualism—founded on an ideal of separate, single-family residences apart from the dirt and turmoil of industrial and agricultural production—has driven much of municipal regulation, defined land-use, and, ultimately, shaped American life. Hirt explores municipal zoning from a comparative and international perspective, drawing on archival resources and contemporary land-use laws from England, Germany, France, Australia, Russia, Canada, and Japan to challenge assumptions about American cities and the laws that guide them.
Completely revised and updated, AIA Guide to Chicago, Second Edition is the liveliest and most wide-ranging guide ever written about Chicago's architecture. More than a thousand individual buildings are featured, along with more than four hundred photos-many taken expressly for this volume-and thirty-five specially commissioned maps. The book is arranged geographically so that the user, whether Chicago citizen or visitor, can tour each area of the city as conveniently as possible. Building descriptions focus on the illuminating-but easily overlooked-details that give the behind-the-scenes, often unexpected story of why a building took the shape it did. And in the best Chicago tradition, this guide does not shy away from opinions where opinions are called for. Comprehensively researched, meticulously written, and more than thorough.
No other resource—not even the building code—presents the exact code information you need, when you need it at design stage The International Building Code (IBC) is a model building code developed by the International Code Council (ICC). The IBC and its complementary codes provide design and construction professionals with a complete set of comprehensive, coordinated building safety and fire prevention regulations in order to safeguard the public health and general welfare of the occupants of new and existing buildings and structures. Adopted throughout most of the United States and its territories, it is referenced by federal agencies, such as the General Services Administration, National Park Service, Department of State, U.S. Forest Service, and the Department of Defense. For architects and other design and construction professionals, it is particularly important that they understand how to apply the IBC and how code officials view buildings, so that they integrate code-required provisions in the earliest design stages of any project. Applying the IBC, as well as its companion codes, to building design is a process that is uniquely different to that of applying the building code during a planning review. Whereas other guide books explain the IBC in sequential order, from cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and section by section, Applying the Building Code explains the requirements of the IBC as they would apply during the common phases of design: from schematic design through to the preparation of construction documents. This effectively highlights applicable requirements of the building code at the appropriate stage of design based on available information. The book provides a 28-step process that is organized according to the three phases of architectural design: schematic design, design development, and construction documents Each step explains the application of the IBC, as well as other codes and standards referenced by the IBC (i.e. International Fire Code, International Energy Conservation Code, and ANSI A117.1) based on available project information Illustrations and examples are provided throughout that explain the code fundamentals associated with each step A single example project is used throughout the step-by-step process to illustrate how each step is applied and builds upon code and project information obtained through previous steps Guidance is also provided on the International Existing Building Code and how the step-by-step process is applied to projects involving existing buildings The role of the building department and its staff in regard to plan reviews and code enforcement is discussed A detailed code data information template is provided that can help organize code-related information for construction documents
