Wednesday, July 30, 2014

very modern: millennium park chicago; what i did on my summer vacation part 3

I know. You wish I would stop. But I can't. You see the problem is, I used to take pictures and put them in albums. Then I took pictures and made scrapbooks. When the digital age happened, I went online and made photo books.

The Bean, Chicago

I would make one for every single vacation. And then, one day, I didn't.

Monday, July 28, 2014

what we did on our summer vacation part two: chicago architectural boat tour

Those of you out there in the Midwest know how absolutely hot and humid it can get.

Chicago River Architectural Tour

And, you would never voluntarily plant yourself in July, on the upper deck of a boat, in a river, surrounded by buildings...with temps and humidity above ninety degrees, for ninety minutes of slow moving sight seeing. That's what we have tourists for, right?

Sunday, July 20, 2014

farnsworth house: midcentury modern minimalist miracle

We had the good fortune to spend the week of the 4th of July in Illinois and Indiana. My parents both hail from Indiana and my sweet cousin lives in Chicago. When we travel to the Chicago area, my cousin always indulges my architectural fantasies. She gave me a list of houses to pick from for this trip. Imagine my shock and awe when I looked through her links and brought up this home:

Farnsworth House, Mies van der Rohe, Plano Illinois

OMG. I have seen the Farnsworth Home so many, many times in various books, touted as the quintessential example of mid-century modern minimalism. I never noticed it was near Chicago. SCORE.