At first glance, the sensuous curves of the 82-story Aqua building on North Columbus Drive and the sleekly horizontal lines of the Media Production Center of Columbia College Chicago, at 16th and State Streets, appear to have little in common.
But both sprang from the imagination and innovative spirit of Jeanne Gang, a 2011 MacArthur Fellowship winner described by the foundation as "an architect challenging the aesthetic and technical possibilities of the art form in a wide range of structures."
To Gang, 47, the desire to avoid conventional approaches arises from the specific needs of whatever building she's designing.
"The way that I start a project is by thinking of working with a material and working within the many constraints of the project," says Gang.
"A lot of people these days start with a form and then try to work the functions and the materials into it, and we really work from the other side of that."
The aforementioned Aqua building stands as a case in point. For all the visual poetry of the building's façade, with its distinct balcony shapes for each floor, Gang was trying to address the experiences of those who would live there, she says.
"The whole reason for doing a high-rise – making it possible for a lot of people to live in a very small footprint – is very appealing to me, because it's more sustainable," adds Gang.
"On that particular site, the whole idea is to be able to get views for people. By pulling in and out (the placement of the balconies), people can see in and out of buildings (nearby) and get views they wouldn't ordinarily see."
Yet this gently undulating effect was possible because Gang employed new technologies in shaping the building's concrete floor plates. By using the latest digital tools in her office and at the site, Gang could shape the concrete so that each floor of the building had a different contour.
"A lot of people treat (concrete) so it looks like stone," says Gang, "but it's liquid and capable of being fluid."
Another Gang creation unfolds inside Columbia College's Media Production Center, where film students learn to create the illusion of depth on the flat screen.
"We thought we would try to embody that in three dimensions inside the building," adds Gang, in explaining why she opted to "create windows that cut through the building, (so) you create these sequences of space," she says. The students are "learning how to make film, and they're in a space that's kind of compatible with it."
If Gang's rising international profile suggests she doesn't need the $500,000 prize or cachet of the MacArthur Fellowship, she offers another perspective. The money, she says, can underwrite research that's not funded by clients; and the MacArthur imprimatur holds personal meaning, she says.
"It's a vote of confidence that other people think that what you're doing is interesting and worthwhile," she says. "It's a vote for us for what we're going to do in the future." BD+C
Related Stories
| Mar 29, 2013
Stanford researchers develop nanophotonic panel that reflects sun's heat out of the atmosphere
Researchers at Stanford University have developed a nanophotonic material that not only reflects sunlight, but actually beams the thermal energy out of the earth's atmosphere.
| Mar 29, 2013
Detroit's historic Whitney Building to be renovated for hotel, apartments
Detroit's David Whitney Building, a 19-story landmark erected in 1915, will be renovated for an Aloft hotel and apartments.
| Mar 29, 2013
PBS broadcast to highlight '10 Buildings That Changed America'
WTTW Chicago, in partnership with the Society of Architectural Historians, has produced "10 Builidngs That Changed America," a TV show set to air May 12 on PBS.
| Mar 29, 2013
Shenzhen projects halted as Chinese officials find substandard concrete
Construction on multiple projects in Guangdong Province—including the 660-m Ping'an Finance Center—has been halted after inspectors in Shenzhen, China, have found at least 15 local plants producing concrete with unprocessed sea sand, which undermines building stabity.
| Mar 29, 2013
Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee joins Clark Nexsen
Clark Nexsen, PC, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., has announced that the architecture firm Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee (PBC+L) of Raleigh and Asheville, NC, has officially joined Clark Nexsen.
| Mar 29, 2013
Cuningham Group acquires NTD's healthcare practice, expands into key markets
The international design firm Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. has announced that NTD Healthcare has the joined the company in a strategic expansion. A practice of NTD Architecture, NTD Healthcare joins Cuningham Group with three principals: Wayne Hunter, AIA, NCARB, ACHA and Phillip T. Soule, III, AIA, ACHA in San Diego, along with Maha Abou-Haidar, AIA in Phoenix.
| Mar 27, 2013
Small but mighty: Berkeley public library’s net-zero gem
The Building Team for Berkeley, Calif.’s new 9,500-sf West Branch library aims to achieve net-zero—and possibly net-positive—energy performance with the help of clever passive design techniques.
| Mar 27, 2013
RSMeans cost comparisons: college labs, classrooms, residence halls, student unions
Construction market analysts from RSMeans offer construction costs per square foot for four building types across 25 metro markets.
| Mar 26, 2013
Will Google Glass revolutionize the construction process?
An Australian architect is exploring the benefits of augmented reality in the design and construction process.