Reflecting on Tucson

February 20, 2010 by 10 Comments
with a Side of Palm Trees

Tower and Palm Trees

The first time we wandered around downtown Tucson we were caught in the middle of a cloudburst. It was one of the two cloudy days we saw in Arizona. Two out of ten – not too bad!

We went back the morning we were flying back to Wisconsin. Sunday in downtown Tucson is, well, very quiet. But this time the sun was shining, and so I took advantage of that last bit of Arizona light for a few last photos.

This was a fun shot. I loved the reflections and distortions in the plate glass, but I also loved the added attraction (for me, anyway) of those lovely palm trees.

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Historic First Church in Phoenix, Arizona

February 16, 2010 by 12 Comments
Steeple against the Bluest of Skies

Steeple against the Bluest of Skies

Before we left Phoenix for the trip to Tucson, we got off the Interstate for awhile and drove the streets in downtown Phoenix. I saw this church a few blocks away, and said the now famous phrase, “That would make a great photo…” I am getting so much better at accepting that it is OK to go back for photographs, and so we drove in circles a bit until we found the right streets and the church.

I thought I remembered that the church had written on the front, in huge letters, “First Historic Church”. That made me curious. I get the historic part, but I wondered how it could claim first in that category. It didn’t look that old. Then I went back in my photo archives and realized it said “Historic First Church,” so that made more sense. Amazing how a turn of words implies a different concept.

When I Googled “Historic First Church,” I discovered there are numerous church buildings that are historic and first – Brooklyn, Pasadena, Albany, and yes, Phoenix. But I gave up trying to find much information about the building in Phoenix after several more Google searches.

I did learn that this was the first Protestant church organized in the Arizona Territory and that it has served downtown Phoenix as the First Presbyterian Church since 1879, but I could find nothing about the building itself.

And on a side note, Arizona has the bluest skies I have ever seen.

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Mies van der Rohe’s Portrait

January 14, 2010 by 5 Comments
Tiny Icons, and Voila! A Portrait!

Tiny Icons, and Voila! A Portrait!

These are my last photographs I will post from the walking tour through the McCormick Tribune Campus Center (architect OMA/Rem Koolhaas 2003) on Illinois Institute of Technology‘s campus in Chicago. Other buildings I shot, including Mies’ Crown Hall and a huge dormitory that has a shape resembling a speeding commuter train, will be featured next.

I would have missed this photo were it not for the tour docent. After we had loaded onto the Chicago Architecture Foundation‘s bus, he pointed out a vague portrait of Mies made up of small diameter icons on the glass entrance to the building. It was difficult to see, but the docent said, “I’m told the portrait is more visible when taken with a digital camera.” Always up to a photo challenge, I and another young man toting a camera jumped back off the warm bus, and the tour group patiently waited while we clicked away.

Later in the bus I let the docent chimp my photos so he could see the portrait. Just as he had claimed, the icons formed into an interesting portrait of Ludwig Mies von der Rohe, the architect who was instrumental in setting up IIT’s architectural school and implementing an architectural movement on IIT’s campus and beyond.

Icons Show Student Activities

Icons Show Student Activities

The New York City multimedia firm, 2×4 Inc., designed a set of functional graphic art for the building — murals, wallpaper, clocks, lighting, textiles, signs — that represent the various functions of the building. I was told by Sherpa that even the bathrooms follow the theme, but I didn’t check out that tip.

(Next time I visit, I am going to do an exploration of these individual icons to see what goes on in this building – camera in hand, of course!) Though it was officially winter break, I did see students studying, lounging, eating, and everywhere, there were people working on computers. But there are hundreds of icons. So there must be more…

In honor of Mies’s contribution and influence on the school, 2×4 etched his portrait on the facade of the building and on the sliding glass doors that serve as the main entrance. To enter the building, one must walk, literally, into Mies’s mouth. (How about that for symbolism?)

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Wall of Orange

January 13, 2010 by 5 Comments
Art Panels in IITs Campus Center

Art Panels by Design Team 2x4

I checked out the school colors of the Illinois Institute of Technology and was surprised to find out they were scarlet and gray. After a visit to the very orange interior of the McCormick Tribune Campus Center, I was certain their colors were orange and orange.

The story going around campus was that architect Rem Koolhaas is Dutch and the Netherland’s royal house is the House of Orange, so the building was designed as a tribute to “the Orange”.

Not so, said Koolhaas when asked. He explained he simply likes the color.

These pop art panels were designed by the New York City design firm, 2×4, Inc.

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Exelon Tube

January 12, 2010 by 6 Comments
Campus Center, IIT

Building Under the Tube - Campus Center, IIT

The McCormick Tribune Campus Center at the Illinois Institute of Technology is tucked under the elevated train tracks (the “L”) on Chicago’s South side. The stainless steel and concrete tube shields the student center from the vibration and noise of the passing commuter trains.

I was trying to keep up with the tour, offered by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, so I couldn’t wait for a train to come whooshing out of the tube. Next time.

In 1976, the American Institute of Architects recognized the IIT campus as one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the US.

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