In Chicago, Tadao Ando Turned a Residential Building into an Art Gallery
The building, constructed in the late 1920s in Lincoln Park, was transformed by the architect, changing from four to three floors.
© Jeff Goldberg / Esto
At a first glance, nothing seems to have changed at 659 W Wrightwood Avenue. The red-brick façade with its Art Deco detailing still looks out onto the street. On closer inspection, however, there is a new floor perched just above the original roof of the building.
Tadao Ando, a former boxer turned master of contemporary architecture (he received the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious award in the field, in 1995), completely transformed the structure of the building. It has changed from having four classic storeys to three floors with a covered terrace.
A mix of metal, brick and reinforced concrete
The space, named Wrightwood 659, is owned by entrepreneur Fred Eychaner and art historian Dan Whittaker. The interior is composed of metal, brick, large windows and reinforced concrete, making it a classic ‘Tadao Ando’ structure, and it now houses a gallery dedicated to socially and politically engaged art and architecture.
The first of its temporary exhibitions (the gallery does not have its own collections) celebrated the career of its creator in Ando and Le Corbusier: Masters of Architecture, which took place in December 2018. This was an illustration of the admiration that the Japanese architect harbours for the creator of the Cité Radieuse, who had a particular influence on his concrete work.
More information about Wrightwood 659 (2018), a project by architect Tadao Ando, can be found on the building’s website.
© Jeff Goldberg / Esto
© Jeff Goldberg / Esto
© Jeff Goldberg / Esto
© Jeff Goldberg / Esto
TRENDING
-
The Tattoos that Marked the Criminals of the Edo Period
Traditional tattoos were strong signifiers; murderers had head tattoos, while theft might result in an arm tattoo.
-
A Child's Snowy Quest to Find his Father
The silent film ‘The Night I Swam’ follows the journey of Takara, a young boy alone in an adult world he is yet to understand.
-
Iñigo Gutierrez's Calligraphic Illustrations
Inspired by ‘shodo’, Japanese calligraphy, the Spanish artist who now lives in Tokyo conveys a certain nostalgia in his work.
-
‘As the Wind Stirred the Ashes, Little Gems Remained’: Haruomi Hosono by Laurent Brancowitz, Guitarist of Phoenix
Since its inception, the French pop rock band has drawn inspiration from the rich soundscapes of 1970s Japan and one of its iconic figures.
-
‘Ama, the Breath of Women’, a Feminist and Family-Orientated Odyssey
Through the initiation story of a young city dweller, this graphic novel pays homage to the community of the ‘women of the sea’.
