Open House Part 2

More pictures from the Chicago Architecture Foundation's (CAF) first annual Open House, from a week ago. We are already looking forward to next year's event, and might even serve as volunteers for the day.

Would you believe, I am standing in a high school's cafeteria? This is the Henry Ford Powerhouse High School, and was part of the tour due to its being built around the old powerhouse from the original Sears Tower - NOT the 100+ story-high building downtown! The original Sears Tower was only maybe 6-8 stories high, and it is in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago.
This beauty is the Newberry Library, which now houses only Humanities, including lots of geneological information, and maps.

We got a backstage tour of the Lookingglass Theatre, located in the Pumping Station of the original Water Tower - which are the only two buildings said to have survived the Great Chicago Fire.

This was one of my favorites on the tour. This gorgeous pool is located in the basement/garden level of a condo building! Built originally as apartments, it is a lovely but unremarkable apartment complex built around a central courtyard. You walk inside, down a few steps, and wow, what a surprise to see this amazing pool! It is surrounded by amazing tile work, marble columns, and it is all in excellent condition.

This is what is so cool about the CAF Open House - you would never know that this little jewel existed, if it weren't for this tour. We can't wait to see what is on the tour next year!

Open House

What a day!

Doesn't everyone have a Christmas tree constructed of green glass bottles?

Last Saturday, Scott and I attended the first annual Open House of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. Over 100 locations were open to the public - all types of places: historic office buildings, residences, churches, schools, even restaurants. The spots were located in different neighborhoods, all over the city. We started early, and stopped at 14 places!

Our first stop was one of our favorites - maybe, THE favorite - Christy Webber Landscape Designs, in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago. Christy designed the amazing Lurie Garden at Millenium Park. When I saw her place was on the tour, I knew we had to stop there.

This is a view from her green (of course!) roof. Note the cool art on the right, the garden and water feature below, and the city skyline on the horizon - a little hard to see, as it was cloudy at this hour (9 a.m.).
Lucky us, we got there first thing in the morning, and got to visit extensively with Christy herself. She was so warm and welcoming, and interesting.

Don't you love the art, constructed from old lawn chair frames?

Or a lawn sculpture made of old bed springs? The outdoor art was all created by Lucy Slivinski; isn't it wonderful? Her art is a perfect complement to Christy's garden designs, which are also works of art. The whole place just filled me with such creative energy - it was a wonderful space.

After such a fun first stop - we knew that it would be a great day, because it already was.