Previous 'Industry Standard' Lab Specifications Need Rethinking, Architect Says |
Next Chicago Official Honed Interest in Sustainability as an Oberlin Student |
July 12, 2007, 05:33 PM ET
At the U. of Illinois at Chicago, an Unusual and Contemplative Structure
Chicago -- The Illinois Institute of Technology's subway-burdened McCormick Tribune Campus Center is by no means this city's only unusual campus structure. Just across the street is Helmut Jahn's bread-box-shaped dormitory complex, and just across the IIT campus is Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's only chapel. But the University of Illinois at Chicago's Skyspace may take the prize for inscrutability.
The outdoor structure (above) was designed by the artist James Turrell, who has created a number of similar structures around the world. Each skyspace offers visitors a place to sit and contemplate the sky through an opening in the ceiling, called an oculus, that hides all other points of reference. The sky appears not as a vast and distant dome but as a bright, flat oval fitted smoothly into the plane of the structure's ceiling.
That's the theory, at least. Experiencing the effect may require some effort, since the brain -- for the sake of convenience -- may see a patch of sky blue and automatically apply the normal assumptions about its location. Dawn and sunset are said to be the best times to visit. Skyspaces have proved popular with museums and other institutions. The latest is nearing completion at Pomona College.
The UIC Skyspace, in an unfenced plaza at the intersection of Halsted and Roosevelt, consists of an oval structure that is open on all sides at ground level. Benches offer seating for those who want to stare up into the roomlike space that has the oculus at its center. A curtain of water droplets falls into gutters around the perimeter, masking the sound of traffic. Nearby a circular fountain splashes up out of the pavement. Trees planted in a grid fill out the setting.
Last Sunday a few neighborhood residents took refuge from the heat in the Skyspace's shade. Several appeared to be waiting for rides, but at least one had brought a book and settled in to read. (Chronicle photographs by Lawrence Biemiller)
The sky is visible through an opening called an oculus.
The setting includes an at-grade fountain, additional benches, and a grove of trees.
Add Your Comment
Commenting is closed.