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61. Kelly
    Member

    I lived in the Tree Studios - it was heaven on earth until the redevelopers came in. The artists and colorful residents who lived there for decades tried to fight the developers but in the end were displaced and scattered about. I still can't bear to drive past Ohio and State.

    It was a magical place with one of the most beautiful garden courtyards. There was always something interesting going on, a salon or dinner party where all were welcome. There was no lack of beauty in the architecture and in the joi devie of those who lived there. (sorry no spell check on this iPhone)

    Thanks for posting the link-it brings back nIce memories.

    Posted Monday Feb 8, 2010 10:33 #

62. spatny
    Member

    My wife's uncle, Sol Kogen, (re)built the Carl Street (now Burton Place) Studios and a bunch of other joints around Old Town. They bought old stuff on Maxwell Street and just tore into those old buildings and created the kind of places that people come here to visit. I doubt they knew what a building permit was. They just did it, and now all that stuff is in the guidebooks. Edgar Miller was one of the greatest artists (meaning someone who actually created art) that America has ever produced. Chicago Tonight had a piece on Skre the other night where he showed a lot of pics taken of Edgar's works. Here's a nice link:

    http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/sol-kogen-and-edgar-millerold-town/Content?oid=1109981

    The old Nocturne bar they built across the street is still there, I think. It used to be full of great people - lots of dolls in berets and all that - time was.

    Posted Monday Feb 8, 2010 13:57 #

63. spatny
    Member

    If we had had an artist like Hundertwasser building something like this where that terrible warehouse now stands, people from everywhere would have flocked to Riverside to see it and live in it. All it takes is imagination... but nobody would listen.

    http://www.hundertwasserhaus.com/

    Posted Monday Feb 8, 2010 14:03 #

64. EricSundstrom
    Member

    That is one interesting building to look at Don. However if you think something that avant garde would get through the plan commission i'd say you were smoking hemp. Also there is the fact that many in this town would find the Hunterwasser building as ugly as what you think the VC is now.By the way I agree the exterior of the VC should have been better thought out but as a place to live the interior is a solidly built building.

    Posted Monday Feb 8, 2010 15:27 #

65. mrt
    Member

    http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/02/hallucinatory-architecture-of-future.html

    the following link is not about architecture where people live and work but of roads in which people actually drive their cars. One of my more harrowing driving experiences was driving the road in colorado (areas w/ no shoulder, no bank, just turns at w/ 5000 ft gorges! - i think it is called the trail ridge road in the Rocky Mntn Nat PK - but these roads are worst.

    http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2009/01/worlds-most-dangerous-roads-part-6.html

    Posted Monday Mar 15, 2010 12:18 #

66. spatny
    Member

    Eric - I want to recommend a book to you - Edgar Miller and the Handmade Home. Edgar and my wife's uncle, Sol Kogan, built the Carl Street (now Burton Place studios and some other buildings around town. Those buildings are very famous and have always been full, had a waiting list and rented at much above comparable rents, as does the Hundertwasser House in Vienna. Wouldn't it have been great to have something interesting - fun to live in - here, instead of what we got? Check the book out - it's gorgeous in itself. Very interesting Chicago history and fabulous photographs. Miller was one of the great artists this country has produced, in my humble opinion. We have a charcoal Indian done by Sol in a Miller hand-carved frame over our fireplace... I'm sure you know his buildings but this book - by Richard Cahan - is very special. Check it out.

    Posted Tuesday Mar 23, 2010 11:32 #

67. mrt
    Member

    http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Edgar-Miller-and-the-Hand-Made-Home/Richard-Cahan/e/9780978545055

    

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    http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/art-for-living-edgar-miller/Content?oid=1247664

    Posted Tuesday Mar 23, 2010 11:38 #

68. spatny
    Member

    That's the book. It's really fantastic - Miller could do things in so many mediums. There's a story there about Sol telling the building inspectors they had "interesting faces"and then doing a sketch for them - and magically the inspections weren't necessary. My wife had a party for her 16th birthday there and played that piano in the Sol Kogan Studio. Edgar carved one of those doors when he was almost 90! It's an organic environment - always evolving... Glasner's place is great too. Those were the days....

    Posted Tuesday Mar 23, 2010 11:51 #

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