public art Archives - Page 4 of 4

Women in Architecture: Denise Scott Brown

Posted on August 2, 2021May 7, 2024 by Hunter

Denise Scott Brown knew from the age of five that she wanted to be an architect. Born in 1931 Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia), Scott Brown pursued her dream by spending her summers working for architects and studying at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

In 1952, Scott Brown moved to London to work for modernist architect, Frederick Gibberd. While in London, Scott Brown won admission to the prestigious Architectural Association School of Architecture before moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1958 to study at the University of Pennsylvania’s planning department and obtain a master’s degree in city planning and architecture.

In 1967, Scott Brown joined Robert Venturi’s architectural firm, Venturi and Raunch, where she became principal in charge of planning in 1969. Scott Brown’s approach to architecture with Venturi was to understand a city in terms of social, economic, and cultural perspectives and to use these perspectives a set of complex systems in which to build a structure.

With Venturi, Scott Brown designed the Bryn Mawr College Campus Center as well as a campus plan in 1997 which considered the campus’s physical character as originally shaped by famous planners and architects Calvert Vaux, Frederick Olmsted, Louis Kahn, and more. The student body of Bryn Mawr College, having grown, needed an expanded campus, and Scott Brown planned an expansion that celebrated the campus’s original orthogonal pattern while accommodating the students’ needs.

Nikko Hotel, designed by Scott Brown — Nikko Hotel, courtesy of Venturi, Scott Brown, and Associates

Another of Scott Brown’s designs is for the Japanese Nikko Hotel chain, in which Scott Brown merged the ideals of western comfort with Japanese Kimono patterns to celebrate the heritage of the hotel chain while catering to the western audience.

In 1989, Venturi and Raunch was renamed to Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, celebrating Scott Brown’s contributions to the firm. The firm is known as one of the most influential architecture firms of its time and is celebrated for radical theories of design while approaching its practice clearly and comprehensively.

In 1991, Robert Venturi was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, while Scott Brown was not recognized for her contributions to Venturi’s work. Scott Brown boycotted the award ceremony. In 2013, a student organization titled Women in Design started by Caroline Amory James and Arielle Assouline-Lichten at the Harvard School of Design started a petition for Scott Brown to receive joint recognition for the Pritzker Architecture Prize. Though Scott Brown has still not been awarded joint recognition for the Pritzker Prize, in 2017, she won the prestigious Jane Dew Prize.

Throughout her career, Scott Brown struggled to be recognized as an equal partner at a male-dominated firm. In 1975, Scott Brown wrote an essay titled “Room at the Top? Sexism and the Star System in Architecture,” though Scott Brown did not publish the essay until 1989 out of fear of damaging her career. The essay became an immediate hit, and Scott Brown has continued to advocate for women in architecture throughout her life.

Best Day Trips Close to the Chicago Area

Posted on July 26, 2021May 7, 2024 by Hunter

Although Chicago is a huge city with plenty to explore, sometimes you just need a break from the bustle and noise. For our fellow Chicago residents who might need a weekend getaway this summer, here are the best day trips close to the Chicago area:

Indiana Dunes National Park

Chicago boasts some great beaches, but for something different, Indiana Dunes National Park is worth the drive over state borders. The park features over three miles of lakeshore lined with sand dunes, marshes, grasslands and forests. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can try their Three Dune Challenge and climb three of their tallest dunes in one day.

Rockford, IL

Less than 100 miles northwest of Chicago, Rockford’s charm is just a quick road trip away. You can’t miss the Anderson Japanese Gardens, one of North America’s premiere Japanese gardens with over 12 acres of streams, waterfalls, koi-filled ponds and more. The Discovery Center Museum or the Burpee Museum of Natural History are great spots for kids and families to explore.

Milwaukee, WI

Whether you get there by car or Amtrak train, Milwaukee’s downtown has something for everyone. Murals and public art line the streets full of boutique shops, perfect for exploring without an agenda. Don’t miss the Milwaukee Art Museum, one of the city’s many museums, for the exhibits and the architecture of the building itself. Milwaukee is also a city for beer enthusiasts, with a few historic gems related to the Pabst Brewing Company.

Oak Park, IL

This one is right in Chicago’s suburbs, but we can’t skip over Oak Park’s ties to legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright. His home and studio are in Oak Park, as are a series of other Prairie-style homes he designed. Take one of the many architectural tours dedicated to Wright’s work in the neighborhood.

Whether you’re exploring new museums, different scenery or a piece of architecture history, we hope this inspires you to find your new favorite getaway from the city!

Phoenix Public Art: Air Apparent

Posted on December 21, 2020 by Nancy

An otherworldly sculpture and public art installation in Phoenix pushes viewers to ponder the color of the sky. Air Apparent is a Turrell Skyspace installation, located on the campus of the University of Arizona Tempe. Today, we’re taking a closer look at the work, from its inception to its impact on viewers today.

Artist James Turrell has been making Skyspaces since the 70s, earning international recognition for his innovative work. Air Apparent, installed in 2012, is no less impressive. The immersive art experience is a wondrous structure that frames the sky, using LED lights to “optimize color perception at sunrise and sunset.” Turrell himself describes the concrete and steel structure as “a specifically proportioned chamber with an aperture in the ceiling open to the sky.” The experience for the viewer, then, becomes a surreal rumination on their own perception, grounded only by the work’s alien architecture.

The ASU Skyspace is the third in the area, but the only one that’s open 24/7. Located at the intersection of Rural and Terrace roads, ASU President Michael Crow has declared the artworks’ proximity to “three of the most sophisticated science facilities on Earth” as anything but accidental. One of the nearby buildings, the Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 4 (ISTB4), is renowned for designing instruments to enable scientific exploration of other worlds. The labspace includes public outreach areas to invite visitors into the scientific and engineering challenges that invigorate studies of Earth and the universe.

Air Apparent was designed by Turrell in collaboration with architect William P. Bruder, and is set in a desert garden designed by landscape architect Christy Ten Eyck. We’re wowed by the installation’s architectural feats and the deeply thoughtful way it relates back to the surrounding environment — you just have to see it to believe it.

Phoenix Public Art: Her Secret is Patience

Posted on November 2, 2020 by Nancy

Towering over Phoenix’s Civic Space Park is a suspended, monumental web of light and color, arguably best viewed by night. The enormous piece of public art is titled Her Secret is Patience, and makes a striking impression, whether you’re seeing it for the first time or the hundredth. Today, we explore the work and artistry behind one of Phoenix’s most notable pieces of public art, Her Secret is Patience.

Completed in 2009, the monumental installation was the vision by artist and sculptor Janet Echelman in collaboration with global, award-winning teams of engineers, architects, planners and fabricators. The multi-layered form is secured from five points, suspending 38 feet from the ground. Echelman credits inspiration to the surrounding nature, from Arizona’s distinctive monsoon cloud formations to saguaro flowers.

The sculpture consists of painted, galvanized steel, polyester twine netting and colored lights that change gradually with the seasons, transforming to cool hues in the summer and warmer in the winter. The specialized lighting gives off a unique glow, creating an otherworldly sense of whimsy in the middle of Phoenix. During the day, the structure casts intricate shadows from the Arizona sun. The creative team and work itself have garnered a handful of awards for their inventive process and impactful impression on the Phoenix art scene.

Like our own work in Arizona, Her Secret is Patience takes cues from nature to create something extraordinary. Its name even stems from the same source; Ralph Waldo Emerson’s full quote reads, “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

Chicago’s Public Art: Joan Miró’s Chicago

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Nancy

Our reverence for sculpture and for the cities in which we operate collide to create a deep appreciation for the public art of Chicago. And as we explore the craft in the city we love, we’re doing deep dives into famous public works from downtown to vibrant neighborhood pockets. This week, it’s all about Joan Miro’s Chicago.

History of Miro’s Chicago

This iconic sculpture by iconic artist Joan Miro was first titled The Sun, The Moon and One Star but is known now as Miro’s Chicago. Originally, Miro was commissioned by Brunswick Corporation in 1969 to design a sculpture, but the project halted when Brunswick withdrew funding. In 1979, Chicago’s first female mayor Jane Byrne reinvigorated the project, promising to fund the first half of the project if others would commit to funding the second half. Together, foundations, institutions and individuals rallied to commit that final stretch of funding, and Miro himself reduced the cost of construction by completely donating his design to the city. It’s only appropriate, then, that Miro’s Chicago is an iconic fixture in the city, as it was brought to fruition by collaborative and impassioned locals.

Visiting Miro’s Chicago

The sculpture is tucked modestly away in a narrow plaza between the Cook County Administration Building and the Chicago Temple Building in Chicago’s downtown financial district. The plaza, known as Brunswick Plaza, is directly south of the Daley Center and nearly directly south of another iconic Chicago public art piece, the Chicago Picasso.

Miro’s Chicago, in its modest and peaceful crevice downtown, makes for a serene location for local workers to have lunch outside. The concrete, bronze and ceramic tile façade towers to almost 40 feet tall, and its curving figure has earned the nickname “Miss Chicago.” The large pedestal beneath the sculpture invites passerby to sit and marvel — either at the statue above, or the striking Chicago architecture even farther above. As a piece of public art, it does exactly what we at Optima know and love sculpture for: it elicits an emotional experience from its viewer, while activating the incredible architectural space around it.

A Brief History of the Plaza

Posted on August 26, 2020September 1, 2020 by Nancy

At Optima, we’re believers that exceptional design has the power to inspire awe and wonder, and to enhance the human experience. One such component of design, the plaza, is a perfect example of this: designed as an open, public space, plazas create hubs for community activity and human connection. To learn more about the role this seminal piece of design has in creating public space, we’re diving into the history of the plaza.

The First Plazas

From colonial cities in Spanish America to the Spanish East Indies, there were several types of plazas serving as the center of community life. The plaza mayor often referred to the space centered between several administrative, religious and government buildings. The plaza de armas, meanwhile, served as a rallying space for troops, and the plaza de toros translates, quite literally, to bullring.

Perhaps the most significant example of such plazas is the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain. Dating back to 1619, the plaza was constructed during the reign of Philip III by architect Juan de Herrera. Though the plaza saw several disasters since then and was reconstructed an equal number of times, it remained (and still remains) a pivotal public fixture in Madrid. Plaza Mayor has served many diverse purposes, from being the site of a marketplace, to bullfights, to military parading ground, to public executions, to even trials during the Spanish Inquisition and crowning ceremonies.

Evolving over time to a space of leisure, the Plaza Mayor is now the site of outdoor cafes, restaurants and, inevitably, tourists. It draws people in with yoga workshops, concerts and festivals — a far cry from its dabbles in militant history. The Spanish plaza is also related to the Italian piazza, with both belonging under the umbrella term “town square,” which includes city squares, plazas, piazzas and city greens.

The Modern Day Plaza

Following in the footsteps of Madrid’s adaptable Plaza Mayor, the modern day plaza can refer to a multitude of spaces with a multitude of purposes. Within our own portfolio, a prime example of a plaza is at Optima Signature and Optima Chicago Center. By sliding the podium of Optima Signature North and juxtaposing Optima Chicago Center to the West and South, the buildings create a dynamic plaza space, which features lush landscaping, planters and benches. Kiwi, a large-scale sculpture designed by Optima founder David Hovey Sr, adds to the visual energy of the space.

Aerial view of the plaza at Optima Signature and Chicago Center

Now, plazas refer to open spaces within neighborhoods that boost economic vitality, pedestrian mobility and safety as well as providing aesthetically pleasing areas. No matter the interpretation of the word, there’s always one belief at the core, and that’s gathering and celebrating community.

Chicago’s Public Art: Agora

Posted on July 8, 2020September 1, 2020 by Nancy

At Optima, our appreciation for sculpture runs deep, with Optima co-founder David Hovey Sr. expanding the design reach of Optima to include his own original sculptures. Indulging in our love for the craft, we’re exploring Chicago’s public art, piece-by-piece. This week, it’s all about Agora, by Polish sculptor and fiber artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930-2017).

Agora

It’s hard to miss the sculpture Agora, prominently displayed on the southwest side of Grant Park in Chicago. The 106-foot tall creation consists of a cluster of headless, walking figures, each made out of hollow and faded cast iron that was crafted in a Polish foundry. The artwork invites viewers to walk through the figures and contemplate. The figures themselves appear to be milling about in a crowd, all aimed in different directions.

The name Agora is a reference to the urban meeting places of Ancient Greek city states. The artist, Abakanowicz, grew up during World War II with an intense fear of crowds, and that claustrophobia is reflected in her work. Inspired, or rather horrified by, the groupthink of that time and Soviet rule, Abakanowicz brought the sculpture to life. She began working on creating large headless figures in the 1970s, using burlap and resin before the final cast iron form, and the sculpture was formally installed in Chicago in 2006.

Agora is Magdalena Abakanowicz’s largest permanent installation. However, she’s well known for her other textile sculptures and biomorphic forms, the most famous of which are her Abakans creations. The overwhelming response to her Abakans is what launched her to an international art spotlight, where she’s now regarded as one of Poland’s most internationally acclaimed artists.

We’re honored to celebrate the innovation, creativity, work and life of Magdalena Abakanowicz, a phenomenal woman and artist.

Chicago’s Public Art: The Calder Flamingo

Posted on May 13, 2020April 5, 2021 by Nancy

Sculptures are art made architectural; dramatic corners, inventive materials and a consideration of space and its voids. At Optima, our appreciation for sculpture runs deep, with Optima co-founder David Hovey Sr. expanding the design reach of Optima to include his own original sculptures. Indulging in our love for the craft, we’re exploring Chicago’s public art, piece-by-piece. This week, it’s all about Alexander Calder’s famous Flamingo.

The Calder Flamingo

Though you might not notice it immediately as a flamingo, every Chicagoan is familiar with the long and graceful arcs of the famous red Flamingo sculpture designed by Alexander Calder. Calder is a seminal Modernist multi-media artist perhaps best known for his many whimsical mobile creations.

The Flamingo, however, is the antithesis of his mobile sculptures set apart by their dynamic motion — he referred to the goliath sculpture as a “stabile,” a freestanding abstract sculpture made in the style of a mobile but sitting rigid and stationary. It is this peculiar approach that gives The Flamingo an inevitable feeling of potential energy, instilling an almost alien vitality to the Federal Plaza where it lives.

Weighing in at 50 tons and made of steel, the sculpture feels anything but heavy in the space it occupies. Its arches and voids invite passerby to walk beneath and through the art on their way to surrounding office buildings in the plaza — including the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed Kluczynski Federal Building.

The sculpture was designed specifically for this space, to add a lightness and balance to the severity of the Federal Building’s Modernist lines. Unveiled on October 25, 1974, at the same time that Calder’s Universe mobile was unveiled at the Willis Tower, the momentous, art-filled occasion was declared “Alexander Calder Day” and even featured a circus parade.

The festivity, spirit and joy of this sculpture and its history are apparent to all that visit it on display in Chicago, adding yet another meaningful and momentous sculpture to our city’s iconic and artful culture.

Chicago’s Public Art: The Picasso

Posted on May 6, 2020September 1, 2020 by Nancy

Sculptures are the ultimate exploration of materials and their expression. With Optima Co-Founder David Hovey Sr. having expanded the design reach of Optima to include sculpture, the medium is one that hits close to home for us. To indulge in our love for the craft, we’re exploring Chicago’s public sculpture art, piece-by-piece. First up is an iconic staple in Chicago: The Picasso.

The (Chicago) Picasso

The monumental, larger-than-life sculpture created by Pablo Picasso situated in downtown Chicago goes unnamed by the artist. However, the work is affectionately referred to as The Picasso and even The Chicago Picasso. The sculpture is now a globally-renowned landmark, standing 50 feet tall and weighing in at 162 short tons.

The Chicago Picasso was commissioned by the architects of The Richard J. Daley Center in 1963. Occupying the beloved Daley Plaza alongside the skin-and-bones International Style Modernist skyscraper, the sculpture stands out as a whimsical and abstract piece that invites plaza visitors to jump, climb and slide upon its smooth, COR-TEN steel surface. The interactive sculpture cost the modern day equivalent of $2.8 million, with three charitable foundations shouldering the cost. And although Picasso himself was offered $100,000, he refused the payment, insisting that he wanted to make the work as a gift.

Picasso’s inspiration remains a mystery, though some muse that the armadillo-esque figure is actually an abstracted portrait of the French woman, Sylvette David – now known as Lydia Corbette. The sculpture’s abstract nature was met with tough criticism initially. In a city where most sculptures were famous figures, some didn’t take kindly to the strange public art newcomer. But it was only a matter of time before The Chicago Picasso rightly became a revered piece of Chicago’s vibrant public art collection, brightening the Daley Plaza and the city with its presence.

hidden h1

Tag: public art