AS+GG design new museum in Mies van der Rohe building
The new Chicago Architecture Center (CAC) has opened to the public, offering visitors a chance to discover the story behind the “first city of modern architecture.” The 200,000 sq ft centre, designed by locally-based firm Adrian Smith+Gordon Gill (AS+GG), occupies a building significant to the design community for its original creation by the office of Mies van der Rohe. The new space features custom-designed areas for tour orientation, design education, public programmes and nearly 10,000 sq ft of innovative exhibits developed in partnership with museum planning and design firm, Gallagher & Associates.
As well as designing the centre, AS+GG are also represented inside by a 36-foot tall exhibit of their concept for Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower, which will be the world’s tallest building when completed. The setting for this exhibit, The Drake Family Skyscraper Gallery, is a dramatic space with 40-foot tall windows offering expansive views of the Chicago River. "The location, overlooking the Michigan Avenue Bridge, is at the crossroads of Chicago," said AS+GG founding partner Gordon Gill. "The design doubles down on the remarkable visibility to create an open, accessible space that invites the city to step inside and provides a perch from which visitors can watch the city at work and play."
The Chicago Gallery, located on the first floor, tells the story of how the city became the epicentre of modern architecture. Taking pride of place is the popular Chicago model, expanded from 1300 to 4250 buildings. "Our new home enables us to offer a whole new experience," said Lynn Osmond, Hon. AIA, the president and CEO of CAC. "Visitors can explore huge scale models of skyscrapers and learn how and why they were designed and built. They can dive into the new, expanded Chicago Model and learn the story, told through film and projections on the model, of Chicago's architectural legacy."
Lucy Nordberg
TenderStream Head of Research
The competition for the Chicago Arts Center design was first published by TenderStream here
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