Blair Kamin – Page 48

A bicyclist in Jackson Park near the site of the Obama Presidential Center on April 14, 2021.

Obama chooses historic Jackson Park as library site

August 21, 2019 at 7:25 p.m.

Rejecting a rough-edged urban site for what could be a showcase near the lakefront, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama have selected Chicago's historic Jackson Park as the...

Detail of St. Boniface Church in Chicago on July 27, 2016.

Boarded-up St. Boniface faces uncertain future amid dispute over control

May 22, 2019 at 10:15 p.m.

If you drive the Kennedy Expressway, you've undoubtedly glanced at the former St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church. Just west of the Kennedy, at 1348 W. Chestnut St., the four square...

St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church, shown in 2008, has been closed since 1989.

Future of historic church in doubt after demolition permit issued

June 11, 2018 at 9:29 p.m.

A long-running struggle over the future of a historic church along the Kennedy Expressway appeared to be coming to a head after a demolition permit for the building was issued...

Now that the plan for the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art collapsed, the South Parking Lot could be ideal for green space.

With museum green gone, time for green space

May 23, 2019 at 4:00 a.m.

Now that a month has passed since "Star Wars" creator George Lucas withdrew his misguided plan to build a museum on Chicago's lakefront, it's time for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to...

The National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, was decided by UNESCO to add to the World Heritage list.

Frank Lloyd Wright sites don’t make cut for UN World Heritage List

June 10, 2018 at 10:07 a.m.

It sounded like a slam dunk last year when the federal government nominated 10 Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, including the Robie House in Chicago and Unity Temple in Oak Park,...

Before a $15 million renovation was completed in mid-2018, the Executive Mansion, a once-majestic residence where Illinois governors have stayed for 160 years, had taken on the aura of a tired old homestead with cracking and crumbling bricks, chipping and peeling paint, and rotting wood.

Illinois’ first lady unveils $15 million plan to renovate crumbling executive mansion

May 23, 2019 at 3:59 a.m.

The overgrown gardens around the Illinois governor's mansion are so thick with trees and bushes that you can hardly see the place when you drive by. That's not a bad...

The exterior of the Thompson Center seen on Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015, in Chicago. Governor Bruce Rauner proposed selling the building for development in order to save the taxpayers money.

Delay in Thompson Center battle could save it from becoming teardown

June 10, 2018 at 7:29 a.m.

There is a pause, it turns out, in the fight over the future of Helmut Jahn's functionally challenged, postmodern glitter palace, the James R. Thompson Center. Whatever the outcome of...

The new Metropolitan Lounge is open July 11, 2016, at Union Station.

Union Station renovation inches forward with engineering company selection

May 22, 2019 at 10:09 p.m.

The makeover of historic Union Station inched ahead Monday as Mayor Rahm Emanuel and regional transportation officials named an engineer for the project's next phase — even as they acknowledged...

Tree leaves shade the Ragdale Ring on the Ragdale Foundation campus Thursday, June 23, 2016, in Lake Forest. The temporary art piece and venue will hold one performance each in June, July and August.

Playful variation on ring forms performance space at Ragdale in Lake Forest

May 23, 2019 at 3:59 a.m.

There's something about a ring, the kind that gathers people in a circle. From Stonehenge to the layered-stone "council rings" of landscape architect Jens Jensen, circular open-air structures have long...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Martin Nesbitt, left, chairman of the Obama Foundation, announce on May 12, 2015, that Chicago will be the home of Obama's presidential library and museum.

Obama library will be the first with a woman as one of lead architects

June 10, 2018 at 8:01 a.m.

When Barack and Michelle Obama last week named Tod Williams and Billie Tsien of New York as the architects of Chicago's Obama Presidential Center, a milestone was overlooked: Tsien will...

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