- Courtesy of Chicago Architectural Club
Architects from 13 countries have contributed 71 entries to the the Chicago Architectural Club’s “Future Prentice” competition.
Three winning entries, chosen by a panel of jurors last week, will be announced Thursday; you can get a look at them in a related exhibit opening at the Chicago Architecture Foundation Friday.
The exhibit, “Reconsidering an Icon: Creative Conversations About Prentice Women’s Hospital,” will include a slide show of all the entries, along with invited designs from ten young Chicago architectural firms, plus local starchitect Jeanne Gang’s spectacular tower-on-tower concept. It’s cosponsored by CAC, CAF, and the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
Unfortunately, while architects around the world were busy dreaming up designs for reuse of the iconic Bertrand Goldberg structure, Mayor Rahm “Global Destination” Emanuel sealed Prentice’s fate by siding with the building’s owner, Northwestern University, in its anti-landmarking campaign.
Landmarking would have interfered with NU’s plans for imminent destruction.
Which will will soon make the whole conversation moot.
Unless (who knows?) the mayor drops in at CAF and spots something that’ll inspire a Prentice reprieve.
The exhibit will be open November 16 through February 8, 9:30 AM to 5 PM daily, at 224 S. Michigan; it’s free.